Hallowed Huntsmistress
by The Last Letter
Summary: With the Huntsclan and magical creatures bonding for the first time in millennia, Jake and Rose are ready to enter an age of peace. But two old enemies arise - one of the Huntsclan and one of the dragons. Jake finds himself searching for a vanished Rose, while Rose finds herself losing touch with reality. Sequel to Forever Am Drag.
1. Holy

Theron tented his fingers together, staring down his ally. It was not a creature he would ever have considered himself working with before, but hard times called for hard decisions. It was, also, hard to deny that he and the creature wanted the same thing, in some respects at least. Both were looking for the fall of the dragons (each for their own reasons, but the end goal was the same so reasons didn't really matter) and Theron was, in addition to this, looking to recapture his Clan and, more importantly, his Huntsgirl.

He still felt bitterness rise within him at the thought of her. She had abandoned him, thrown him to the side like some useless low-level Huntsboy cadet. He was nothing of the sort. He was Theron and he would forever be her Master.

He just needed to remind her of it.

His eyes met the red ones of his ally – the Dark Dragon. It was merely by coincidence the two had run into one another, and it was merely fate that they had held off killing one another long enough to have a conversation and to realize they could work together.

Of course, Theron was planning on killing him once he was no longer of use but that was neither here nor there.

"A Dragon Council meeting, you say," Theron hummed. "Can we get near the place?"

"It would … be a risk," the Dark Dragon purred. "I suppose we could but is it worth dying over?"

"You don't think we'll learn anything of use?"

"The Council is full of puffed up, useless dragons," the Dark Dragon snorted. "Hardly worth listening to. Our efforts would be better concentrated on what we're going to do once they return from the Council meeting."

"I want her," Theron growled. "You will not dissuade me from this fact. I want to capture her and bring her back here."

"An enemy in our territory is definitely preferable," the Dark Dragon remarked sarcastically.

"I will turn her into an ally. I will bring her around to our side. The Huntsgirl has merely lost her way."

The dragon growled, deep in the back of his throat. "I will give you this, but only because in the last year and a half, you have not been wrong on anything."

"I'm not about to start," Theron muttered darkly.

She would be his again.

(-.-)

"Watching _that_ never gets old."

Rose straightened as the deep voice came from the shadows of the training center. A smile graced her lips. "Watching what, Kyle?"

"You train," the dark skinned boy shook his head. "I'll always be jealous that we didn't get the enhanced reflexes and whatnot that you did."

"It was a stretch that it would happen at all," Rose reminded him. She strode over to him, plucking the water bottle out of his offering hand. "Plus, I don't know if you'd want them – to be honest, it's a little freaky."

She remembered back to when her enhanced senses had first begun to emerge. She remembered how scared she had been when she had gone out for a jog and had ended up outdistancing a passing vehicle. The enhanced hearing had kept her wincing at anything above a whisper for days; as the more powerful sight had kept her in sunglasses for over a week.

Kyle shrugged. "I still think it would be interesting."

"Where's Nicholas?" Rose inquired. It was becoming rarer and rarer to see the duo together since their duties often kept them in different corners of the Clan but it had done nothing to lessen the bond the boys had developed.

"It's his turn for Suggestion Day," Kyle explained, referencing the day – once a month – when any Clan member could come forward and make suggestions on how to improve the Clan.

"Poor guy," Rose sympathized. Though she liked getting to know her Clan members, Suggestion Day was tedious at best.

"So," Kyle said as the two exited the training grounds, heading toward Rose's room so she could change out of her work out clothes. "Are you going to be travelling again anytime soon?"

Rose shook her head. Since the prophecy had come to pass a little over a year ago, and she had been named Huntsmistress, she had been travelling to all of the Huntsquarters around the globe, establishing her authority as well as putting several new policies in place. Since the Huntsclan was no longer going to be hunting magical creatures but, rather, helping them, it was taking a lot of readjustment.

"I need to be home for a little while," Rose revealed.

"You mean you need to hook up with your boyfriend."

Rose smirked at the boy's gall. "Don't you have somewhere you need to be?"

Kyle recognized the dismissal. "Ah…probably. Later, Huntsmistress Rose!"

"Later, Huntsboy Kyle."

Rose went into her room and took a deep breath. She changed out of her workout clothes and put on something more respectable. She checked her cell phone and found a text message from Jake.

_Jake: u still want 2 go 2 Spuds lake cottage_

_ Rose: yes_

_ Jake: we r leavin 2_

_ Rose: I'll be ready._

_ Jake: need 2 b picked up from the clan? _

_ Rose: Yes_

_ Jake: c u then_

Rose smiled. Though she would never be a normal teenager – she had too much blood in her past and too much responsibility on her hands – it was nice to pretend sometimes. And spending the long weekend at Spud's lakeside cottage with Spud, Trixie, and Jake seemed like a perfect thing to be doing, especially since she hadn't seen her two friends or her boyfriend in months due to aforementioned responsibilities. It was time to take three days and pamper herself before something else came up and tore her attention away again.

She summoned Nicholas and Kyle to her bedroom as she packed.

"Take the blue bathing suit," Nicholas advised as the two sauntered into her room.

"Much more flattering," Kyle added.

Rose dropped the red suit she'd had in her hand in favour of the one they had recommended. "I didn't ask you two here so you could critique my outfit choices," she grumbled.

"And yet you listen to us."

Rose shrugged. "The point: I'm going away for the next three days."

"Have fun!" Kyle encouraged.

"You deserve a break!" Nicholas agreed.

The two looked at each other and chorused, "Do we get a vacation?"

Rose smirked. "We'll talk when I get back. I just want to make sure that you two are equipped to handle things while I'm gone."

Kyle raised his eyebrows but it was Nicholas who spoke. "Seriously? We handled things while you were on the other side of the world. I'm sure we can continue to handle things when you're an hour and a half away."

"I didn't doubt you," Rose said quickly, zipping up her bag. "But even when I was halfway around the world, we were still able to communicate. I'm not going to have any service."

"We will survive," Nicholas assured her.

"Unless you come back and the Huntsquarters is a pile of ash." Kyle shrugged. "Then he was wrong."

"You two," Rose sighed, though good-naturedly. "Why do I trust you guys again?"

"Who knows."

"Bad judgment, maybe?"

"But then again –"

"We trust you –"

"So what does –"

"That say about –"

"Our judgment."

Rose hated when they finished each other's sentences. It made her head spin and she struggled to keep up with how seamlessly their thoughts blended together.

"You sure you're going to be fine?"

"Yes!" Kyle and Nicholas said together, equally exasperated.

"Go have fun, crazy kid!" Nicholas added.

"I'm older than you," Rose pointed out.

"Only by a year," Kyle retaliated, adding under his breath, "old maid."

"Maybe I should stay here just to kick your ass."

Kyle grinned at her. "That won't be necessary.

"Bye!" Rose waved at them and headed for the elevator.

The ride down was relatively quick and soon Rose found herself on the heated streets of New York. Spud, Trixie and Jake were already waiting for her – Spud's dilapidated van pulled up on the curb. The side door slid open and Jake greeted her with a smile. Rose grinned, unable to hold in her happiness as she leapt into the van next to him.

"Next stop, the lake!" Trixie crowed as a welcome.

Rose was unable to pay her any mind, however, as Jake had pulled her tight to him, kissing her thoroughly.

"No making out in my back seat!" Spud chastised.

"Why?" Rose shot back, "I bet you do it all the time!"

"I hope that's all they do in the back seat," Jake added, just loud enough so that his friends could hear him.

Both Spud and Trixie had the decency to blush.

Their blushing quickly gave way to a squabble over what radio station they were going to listen to. Jake put his arm around Rose, drawing her to him the best they could with their seatbelts tightly around them.

"I missed you."

"I missed you, too." Rose replied, threading her fingers through his. "But I shouldn't have to go anywhere for a while."

"Good." Jake sighed.

"What is it?"

"What?" Jake looked down at her, confusion written on his features.

"Is something wrong?" Rose pressed. "You have a look."

"I have no such thing," Jake argued but Rose continued to stare at him. Eventually, he had to give into her look. "I wasn't going to bring this up until after the weekend."

"Or you could just get it out of the way now," Rose suggested.

"Gramps got a summons from the Dragon Council. We – that is him, Fu, you, and I – are to attend their next meeting to discuss the Huntsclan. Apparently, they think you have us all brainwashed and are manipulating us into revealing magical secrets."

Rose shook her head. Couldn't anyone believe the Huntsclan had changed? She knew it was going to take a long while for the Huntsclan to break out of their previous bad reputation, but it was still disheartening to hear that people were _that_ suspicious of their motives.

"Why do they want me to go?" Rose asked. "The last time Lao Shi received a summons, he simply sent them a copy of Mercer's diary."

"It wasn't enough. They want to discuss things in person."

"I suppose it's fair. If this is going to work, both sides have to be cooperative. Thanks to my travels, all of the Clan members are on board with the new plan of action. We just need magical liaisons in every country to work with ours."

"Which will all be set up at the Council meeting," Jake added.

"One more reason why it has to go perfectly," Rose acknowledged. "When is the Council meeting?"

"Next weekend."

"Where?"

"There's this secret island, only for dragons. It's there."

"Do I get any more of a location than that?" Rose inquired, intrigued by the idea of an island only for dragons.

"It's tropical so bring a cute bikini," Jake sarcastically leered at her.

Rose shoved his shoulder. "Just for that," she sniffed, "I'll do no such thing."

"Ease off you two," Trixie barked, "I can _smell_ the hormones."

"Sure they're not yours?" Rose taunted back, gesturing for Spud.

"Like that boy could make any girl hot and heavy," Trixie scoffed through her blush. Despite having been Spud's girlfriend for many months now, it was hard to break the 'friends' label they had lived in for so long. Though she loved him, it was sometimes instinct to make absolute fun of him, especially in front of Jake. Spud never seemed to mind her teasing, however, often teasing her right back.

"Is that why I found you naked in his bed one night?" Jake asked, picture of innocent.

"Quiet you!" Trixie screeched.

Spud chuckled to himself. "You know, I almost forgot about that."

"It's really not that funny," Trixie chastised.

"Oh, but it is," Rose chimed.

Spud, wisely, chose to stop laughing. He pulled in front of his family's cottage.

"We made it!" He announced.

"Thank God. I thought I was going to boil to death in this van," Trixie groaned, hopping out of the vehicle.

Spud came up behind her, dangling the keys in his hand. "Oh my poor darling," he sympathized, before grabbing her up in his arms.

Trixie shrieked, kicking her feet out. "Spud, you put me down! _Right now!_"

Spud waltzed up to the door, Trixie in his arms, and unlocked it before carrying her into the cottage.

Rose turned to Jake. "Let's get the bags so they can have a second."

Jake agreed with a smile.

**I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my beta: **_**Gift Of The Dragons.**_

_**~TLL~**_


	2. Revered

Rose pushed her hands out, warming them against the crackling fire. It was their last night at the cottage and she didn't want to leave. Though nothing out of the ordinary had occurred during their stay – it was four friends hanging out, goofing off, and having fun – they had been some of the best few days of her life. And she had needed it. She fully embraced the responsibilities that came with being Huntsmistress and running the Clan, but it had been nice to take a break after the pressures of the past year.

"Cold?" Jake asked her.

Rose folded herself back into his embrace. "No, not cold; just enjoying the warmth."

She leaned her head against him, not saying much of anything but neither was he. They didn't need to. Despite being apart so much in the past year, they still had not lost their rhythm of being together. Rose didn't know if she would ever be able to forget how to be with him.

Jake watched as the fire began to die down to the embers. He didn't want to add to the flames; he was finished with sitting by the fire. He just didn't know if Rose was.

"Ready to go in?" He asked, when she showed no sign of movement.

"Uh-huh," she sighed softly. She stood up and then helped pull him to his feet – Jake was always surprised by how strong she was, not because he underestimated her, but because she never looked it. "Are you going to put it out?"

Jake shook his head. "It's protected and Trixie and Spud might want to build it back up when they come back from the lake."

Rose shook her head. "I'll never understand why they wanted to go swimming at midnight."

Jake, feeling thoroughly grossed out about his next words, answered her with, "If it helps, they're actually skinny-dipping."

Rose pulled a face. "Thanks; I could have lived without picturing that."

"Ah," Jake said, threading their hands together and pulling her toward the cottage, "I've bet you've seen worse."

"True," Rose mused. "Your face was pretty bad when we woke up this morning."

"Hey," Jake groaned, "I'm offended."

Rose giggled at him. "Maybe you should be," she trilled, leaving his side and heading upstairs to where they were sleeping.

Jake rolled his eyes as she slipped away from him. He could chase after her, but he knew from experience that even at a walk she was faster than him on foot. If he really wanted to surprise her, though, there was something he could do.

"Wings of the dragon," he murmured so that she wouldn't hear.

He felt the tug on his shoulder blades – his wings emerging. His transformations, which had once been so easy when he had first begun his changes into a dragon, had become extremely difficult after his long months of using drugs and his extended hiatus from the dragon life. His first transformation after all of those difficulties had been excruciating. Now, though still painful, it was becoming easier for him to do.

Jake jumped lightly into the air, his wings spreading and lifting him before he could fall back down to the floor. He flew until he was nearly touching the roof and began to descend to the top of the stairs, just to where Rose was about to step. He dropped down before she got there, letting out a small growl. Rose stiffened, blinking at him, her hands curling into fists. Jake hoped she wouldn't let her reflexive instinct take over – he'd end up being punched in the face if she did.

"Are you trying to scare me?" She accused.

Jake shrugged, winking at her. "Maybe," he admitted.

"Fool," Rose laughed. "You can't scare me."

"Well, you can't get past me," Jake countered, though he very much doubted that it was true.

Rose gave him a look that told him she knew the same thing he did before tensing her legs, jumping straight into the air and, using his shoulder for leverage, flipped into the hallway behind him. She gave him a look over her shoulder that clearly said 'you thought wrong' before continuing on her way. Jake watched her go, smiling to himself.

He would never find anyone better than her.

With that thought, Jake bounced to his feet and headed after her.

(-.-)

"That was fun," Spud commented, signalling back into traffic after dropping Rose back off at the still wildly intimidating Huntsquarters.

"Totally," Trixie agreed. "I like having another girl around."

"We're not enough?" Jake teased.

"Y'all all right … for boys, that is," Trixie bantered in return. "We should hang as a group more often though – I missed her while she was gone."

"Bet I missed her more," Jake laughed.

"Probably," Trixie sighed. She twisted around in the passenger seat so that she was facing Jake, who was directly behind her. "So, spill," she prompted.

Jake frowned at her, confused. "Spill what?"

"Details," Spud supplied while Trixie continued to stare expectantly.

"Details about what?" Jake asked, "How much I missed her? I'm quite sure I whined to the two of you enough about that particular subject the entire time she was gone."

"Sometimes I miss the days you were mute," Trixie reminisced, slightly sidetracked from her goal, though she wouldn't stay that way for long. "But no, not those details."

"Then what details do you want?"

"Are you really that dumb?" Trixie exclaimed, "_Boys._ So, you and Rose, in a room together, you know, you've been together for a while … do you get where I'm going with this?"

Jake stared back at her. "Rose and I haven't slept together."

"Why not?" Spud asked.

"It's just never been right. I've told you that before when you asked."

"I just thought this weekend might put you in the mood."

"Trixie, why do you Rose and I to have sex so bad?"

"I don't!" Trixie scoffed. "It's just … most people have. And I know, I know, 'everyone is allowed to make their own choices' yada, yada, yada. I'm just curious. I don't think that's a bad thing."

Jake shrugged. "Think about it. When we first met, I was hardly in a space to even get to know someone – I still don't know _why_ she liked me when I was like that. Then we had to get over the whole 'oh, there's a prophecy that says we have to kill each other' stage. For the past several months, we've been dealing with the fact that we weren't even in the same country. And now, we're just seeing each other again. It's hardly the time to fall into bed with one another."

"Fine, fine!" Trixie turned back around, admitting surrender. "I see your point. I was just hoping for some cute Jake-Rose babies."

Jake nearly choked on his own tongue. "Some _what_?"

"Don't worry Trix," Spud was quick to say. "They're going on the Council meeting – the secret island in the tropics." He winked at Jake in the rearview mirror.

Jake threw himself against the back of seat dramatically, crossing his arms tightly over his chest. "You are all hopeless."

"You're the one still talking to us," Spud pointed out.

Jake continued to brood in complete silence until they dropped him off at Gramps'.

Whistling under his breath, he sauntered into the shop that he still called home. Despite all of the time that had passed, and despite how much he had healed and changed within that time period, Jake had never returned, fully, to his family home. He visited often – sometimes overnight, sometimes just for dinner – but he felt much more comfortable at Gramps' than he did in the Long family home. His mother had never told his father the truth about her family – that is, that the vast majority of them were dragons – and it made Jake uncomfortable to know that he was hiding something big from his dad, even more so now that he had come so close to dying (mere inches from gems that could have turned him into one of them for eternity) because of the world his father was oblivious to.

"Welcome home, kid!" Fu called from behind the counter, "How was the weekend?"

"Weekend was good," Jake grinned.

"I'm glad; you've been doing so good – getting back into your dragon duties and such – that you deserved a break like that." Fu leaned on the counter, propping his saggy face up on his front paws. "And how's Rose?"

"Rose is good." Jake's smile grew at the mention of his girlfriend.

"She back for good now?" Fu inquired.

Jake nodded. "Yep; unless a crisis springs up somewhere, of course."

"The old man wanted to speak to you," Fu mentioned, "But he stepped out somewhere. I'm not sure where though. He's probably not going to be long though, you know how he is, he hates being out in public."

"He's just crotchety," Jake mused. "What did he want? Do you know?"

"I'm assuming it's about the Dragon Council. I could be wrong there, though."

"Nah, you're probably right." Jake's face twisted as he thought, "If we're talking about the Council, should Rose be here to? As of right now, she's still kind of ignorant on the topic."

"Good idea," Fu agreed, quickly. "Do you want to invite her for dinner?"

"Sure, though I don't know if she'll want to see me after spending the weekend with me," he joked.

"But this is for business, not pleasure," Fu paused. "And tell her to bring her minions."

Jake raised his eyebrows at the dog. "Her _minions_?"

"Yeah, the other people."

"Do you have any idea just how many people are in that Clan? You're going to have to be more specific when you say 'minions'."

"The other ones we had in our basement with her last year – her right hands."

"88 and 89, in the old Clan order. Now they're Nicholas and Kyle."

"Well, bring them over here too."

"Why do you want them here?" Jake asked.

"We got more details on the Council meeting yesterday. Lao Shi will want to go over it with you, so I won't say much now, but one of the things we learned is that two new people have been added to summons list: Nicholas and Kyle."

"Great," Jake mumbled, chewing on his lower lip. "What do they want with them?"

"I'm leaving all that to the old man to talk to you about," Fu groaned.

"Okay. I'll call Rose and then I'm getting in the shower before dinner."

"Go for it," Fu said, returning to the newspaper he'd been browsing before Jake had walked in the door.

Jake grabbed the house phone off the kitchen counter as he passed by, dialing Rose's personal line at the Huntsclan as he went. He entered his bedroom and dropped his bag on his bed. He tucked the phone in the crook of his neck as he began to sort through the dirty clothes and assorted belongings he'd taken to the cottage with him.

"Huntsmistress Rose speaking. Please state your name and business."

"Hi, my name is Jake. I think you might be holding my girlfriend hostage in your scary looking skyscraper."

"Miss me already?" Rose teased, her business tone dropping in favour of a warmer one.

"Maybe." Jake sucked in a breath. "But I'll never tell."

"Hmm, maybe I have ways of making you talk…" Rose let her suggestion hang.

Jake cleared his throat. "You sound tired. What's up?"

"I've been home for an hour and a half and it's been crisis after crisis. Come on, I went around the world for months and everything was handled just fine. I go out of cell range for not even three whole days and the apocalypse has begun."

"That bad?"

"No; I'm just easily stressed. Kyle and Nicholas handled things very well, but the Swedish branch was having an issue only I could deal with. But that doesn't matter right now. What's happening on your end?"

"We have new information on the Council proceedings. We'd like you, Nicholas, and Kyle to come over for dinner and discuss it."

"Nicholas and Kyle?" Rose gaped, "Why?"

"The Council has summoned them as well as you."

"I see," Rose breathed. "Well, better to be informed, I suppose. We'll see you at 6:30?"

"Perfect. See you then."

**I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my beta: **_**Gift Of The Dragons.**_

**~TLL~**


	3. Blessed

"Can you promise we're not going to end up in his basement again?" Nicholas pressed.

Rose heaved a sigh and looked at him and Kyle in the rearview mirror. "Are you going to get over that? They're our allies now; our _friends_."

"I'm all for allies and friends," Kyle assured Rose quickly, "but …"

"…Well, you can't tell me that you've gotten over it – being his girlfriend and being kept hostage in his basement."

"Kinky!" Kyle quirked his eyebrows up and down.

"You two!" Rose exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "We are here on official Clan business and it would bode well for you both to remember that."

"Are we going to get any information before going into this?" Kyle asked.

"I don't know much myself, this is an informational meeting. What I can say is that the three of us have been summoned to the Dragon Council occurring next weekend."

"Dragon Council?" Nicholas blurted. "That _exists_?"

"Yes, why wouldn't it?"

"It's just weird," Nicholas explained. "We were taught that they were unintelligent, uncivilized creatures. Obviously, it was wrong, but it's still mind blowing to discover things like that; things that go against our learning and training."

"I understand," Rose said softly, though she could only partially sympathize for several reasons. The two most prominent of these reasons were: she hadn't received the same training as the other Huntsclan members and she had never underestimated the dragons. Even from a young age, Rose had understood that if they were fighting something, they had to be smart enough to fight back.

She parked the car in the alley next to the shop.

"Remember," she hissed as the trio approached the front door, "be respectful."

"Yes, Huntsmistress," they chorused swiftly.

Rose opened the front door without knocking, leading Kyle and Nicholas through the shop. They seemed skittish on this level, eyes locked on the entrance to the basement, but she felt them calm down once they were heading up the stairs that lead to the apartment.

"Hello!" Rose shouted up the stairwell, "We're here!"

"Kitchen!" a gruff voice answered.

Rose headed into the kitchen, Kyle and Nicholas sticking close to her.

"Hi, Fu," Rose chirped, taking a seat at the table and gesturing for the boys to do the same. "What are you making?"

"Tacos," Fu exclaimed. "I've been craving them lately."

"You pregnant woman, you," Rose joked.

Nicholas broke in, "I knew he could talk –"

"But the dog can cook?" Kyle ended.

"The _dog_," Fu snarled, "can do a lot more than cook. Remember that!"

Kyle and Nicholas exchanged alarmed glances.

"Don't scare them," Rose laughed. "That's_ my_ job."

Jake stumbled into the kitchen, finger brushing his hair. "Hey, I thought I heard you." He bent down to Rose, giving her a kiss, before he sat down in the chair next to her, taking her hand in his own.

"Gag," Kyle rolled his eyes.

"They're kissing, it's cute." Nicholas swatted at his best friend.

"And _that_ is the difference between you and me." Kyle rolled his eyes again.

"That's enough," Rose said, but not sternly. When they were within the Huntsclan, it was easy to keep her authority because of the obvious hierarchy, but outside of the Huntsclan, especially in a relaxed situation like this, she and the boys tended to fall into a sibling relationship.

"Okay," Kyle and Nicholas said, but Rose didn't know if she believed them. They were teenaged boys, after all. They were good at settling down when serious business came about but they did like to joke around and have fun when the opportunity presented itself and it was hard for her to deny them their jokes, even when they were at Rose's expense.

"Where's Lao Shi?" Rose changed the subject.

"I have just arrived." Lao Shi's voice boomed into the kitchen as his dragon form slithered through the open window. He transformed, dropping neatly to his feet and pausing there – the picture of dignity. "I am so glad you could all come."

"We're glad to be invited," Rose said, "We need all the information we can get."

"Indeed you do," Lao Shi sighed, acknowledging the Huntsclan's ignorance. "Let's delve into the issue right away; there is much for us to learn."

He headed into the living room and picked up a few papers that he'd had stacked there. They were the recent summons from the Dragon Council. He returned to the kitchen, taking his seat at the head of the table.

"There are four Councilors on the Dragon Council," he began the lesson, "Councilor Andam, the African Dragon; Councilor Kulde, the European Dragon; Councilor Omina, the Dragon of Atlantis; and Councilor Kukulkan, the Central American Dragon. Once there was a fifth Councilor, Councilor Chang, but she betrayed the dragons and is no longer spoken of."

"What did she do?" Kyle asked, instantly intrigued.

"She was in league with the Dark Dragon. He was one of us once, but he was consumed by dark magic and turned against his kin. Few dragons have survived encounters with the Dark Dragon; in fact, only two have and we are both sitting in this room," Lao Shi answered. "I faced him in my youth and Jake did as well, a few years ago. He has not been seen since and the Council believes him dead. I have a different opinion, but the Council does not defer to me."

"I see," Rose murmured. "What else do I need to know about the Council?"

"Not much else about the Council itself. They work together to decide upon important matters. In theory, the Dragon Council only has say in what happens to the dragons but as dragons are seen as protectors in the magical world, the Council often finds itself deciding upon other matters as well.

"And you, Rose, are seen as a matter of the utmost importance."

"Why do they want to meet with me, exactly? I understand that they're questioning my motives, which I understand based on the Huntsclan's previous reputation. But they've read Mercer's diary, they know about Jake and I, they know that this isn't coming out of nowhere."

Lao Shi reached for the papers. "This is the original summons – the one from months ago."

"And we replied with Mercer's diary," Nicholas supplied.

"Right," Lao Shi nodded. "The Council reviewed it and said that they still wanted to speak to Rose directly, thus the second summons. In the second summons it states: the next Council meeting requires the presence of Jacob Long, the American Dragon, Lao Shi, the Chinese Dragon, and Rose, Huntsmistress; for the purpose of unity."

"That doesn't sound bad," Rose admitted. "It's what I've wanted – to finally have an official network in place between my Clan and your world."

"Yes," Lao Shi nodded. "_This_ summons was a step in the right direction."

"But not the next one?" Kyle asked.

Lao Shi drew in a breath. "The third summons, the latest one, is not only more vague, but more intricate."

"Things can be vague _and_ intricate?" Fu snorted, bringing plates piled with food to the table. "Welcome to the world of dragons, kids."

Rose offered Fu a wane smile, but she couldn't keep it on her face. From what Lao Shi had said, the second summons had been the key to realizing all that she had been working for since she had taken over the Huntsclan; the second summons would have given her the peaceful world she spent her nights envisioning. Had it gone wrong? Had the Council changed their minds about helping with that dream? She couldn't see why they would. Unity wouldn't benefit the Huntsclan alone, it would be extremely beneficial to the magical community as well.

Jake seemed to sense her inner turmoil. He tightened his grip on her hand, rubbing his thumb in circles along the base of her wrist. Rose took and breath and held him in return. There was no use in getting worked up over anything, especially when she had nothing concrete to get worked up over.

"So what _does_ the third summons say?" Rose demanded. "And, especially, why do they want Nicholas and Kyle to come? They are my most trusted advisors but there are plenty in the Clan who share the same base responsibilities that they do."

Lao Shi picked up the third summons. "The next Council meeting requires the presence of Jacob Long, American Dragon, Lao Shi, Chinese Dragon, Rose, Huntsmistress, Kyle, Huntsboy 88, and Nicholas, Huntsboy 89; for the purpose of defence, character witnesses, and discussion of unity."

"They mentioned unity though," Rose exclaimed. "That has to be good, right? That's our goal."

"They list the reasons in order of importance," Jake informed her quietly. "The most important reason comes first, the least important is last."

Rose's eyes flashed. She felt angry. She had been working for magical unity, working to end the chaos and pain that her Clan had inflicted on upon them. Shouldn't the magical community be more appreciative of everything that she was doing, rather than pushing it to the bottom of the list? What could possibly be more important?

Anger still burning in the pit of her stomach, she looked up at Lao Shi, the questions balancing on her lips, but Nicholas beat her to the punch.

"So if unity is at the bottom of the list, what are the first two?"

"Yeah," Kyle pitched in. "What is 'purpose of defence'? What are we supposed to be defending?"

"And 'character witnesses'?" Nicholas continued. "I'm assuming that's us, because we were added to the summons along with that, but what are we being character witnesses to?"

"I can only tell you theories," Lao Shi warned. "I cannot speak to the Council's mind, as this is all have they have offered, but I have known the Council for many years, so I think I can safely assume some things."

Rose nodded, gripping Jake's hand, glad that he was as strong, if not stronger, than her and that she could hold tight without the fear of hurting him. His fingers were digging into her just as tightly; he was as nervous as she was. This was their future, potentially their lives, hanging in the balance here.

"I am assuming that they have discovered something in the Huntsclan's past – something concerning Rose – thus the need for Nicholas and Kyle to be character witnesses. By your own omission, they are the two within the Clan that know you best."

"I…yes," Rose breathed, not realizing that she had hesitated. Her mind had instantly flashed backward, to the pain of losing Andrew. He'd been very close to her; she had trusted him, even above Nicholas and Kyle, because he had been like her. He had been out undercover; he had gotten a name from the Clan. He had understood the pain of double lives.

"Is there someone else?" Lao Shi caught her pause. "If there is, we may want to bring them along. It may bode well for you."

"He was murdered by the old Master, just before I took over," Rose revealed. "I didn't mean to bring him up."

"I'm sorry for your friend," Lao Shi said quickly. "Now, the question is, what have they discovered about you that you need character witnesses for? If we can prepare a defence in advance, then it will be better than if we are blindsided in front of the Council."

"I don't know what to say. Master said that I was different from the rest of the Clan, but only because I was raised differently. I was raised to be harsher, crueller, and more heartless. I asked him if he had altered me in any way, beyond the whole nature vs. nurture experiment, and he said that he hadn't."

"Are you absolutely sure that he did no alterations? Is it possible that he lied to you?"

"Of course it's possible. But I don't have any records of it. I went through all of the files in the New York Huntsquarters has before I left on my trip around the world and there was nothing on me. Either Master had them somewhere else or they were destroyed long ago."

"I see." Lao Shi studied his lined hands. "Do you have any reason to believe that you weren't genetically altered?"

"I … I have no idea," Rose admitted, suddenly feeling terrified.

**There will be no new chapter next week! I will be away without any internet connection. Sorry for the delay, but chapters will resume on the 14****th****!**

**I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my beta: Gift Of The Dragons.**

**~TLL~**


	4. Anointed

"What if I am a genetic freak?" Rose dropped her head into her hands, staring at the speaker phone on her desk, waiting for Jake's reply.

"Well," he mused, "then you'll be my genetic freak."

"That's sweet but not very helpful. I never thought about how blindly I listened to Master until now when I'm looking back on it. I believed him when he said it was because I was raised differently, but that's not it at all. I _know_ that's exactly what he did to me – he changed me!"

"You don't know that for sure."

"Then where are my files, Jake? Even the lowliest Clan member has a novel written about them, but there's nothing about me. I don't want to sound egotistical here, but _I_ was the most important Clan member as far as Master was concerned. Yet, he didn't make a single note about me! Don't you find that strange?"

"Take a breath."

"That's not an answer," Rose argued.

"Calm your prickly little self down and take a breath. I'm getting to an answer."

Rose took her breath loudly, making sure that Jake could hear it.

"Now, you may be right, your Master may have done something to you and that's the reason there's no files. On the other hand, there may be no files because the Master didn't want to leave a paper trail on you. He didn't want to anyone to be able to figure out who you were and what you could do. You were his secret weapon."

"Then why enroll me in school? That leaves a paper trail."

"Yeah, a generic high school student named Rose. Anyone is going to look at that and think 'hmm, I bet that one's in the Huntsclan'."

"They could have if they wanted to – all of my school records correspond to sightings."

"Mmm. Don't forget though, that up until last year, we all thought you were dead."

"I … forgot about that," Rose admitted. "Okay, so, I'm his secret weapon. He didn't want to leave a paper trail but that doesn't prove he _didn't_ alter me. In fact, it makes it all the more likely. Yes, there is one Clan leader but each of the Clan branches have their own, smaller, authority. The first rule of the Clan is to not put one another in danger; doing experimentations violates that rule completely. So, if Master were going to do it, he'd have to hide it, thus no files."

"Would you stop working yourself up?" Jake asked.

"No," Rose groaned, "I won't. I'm freaked out, I'm mad at myself, I'm nervous over this Council thing –"

"They're harmless."

"And you're not helping!"

With a flourish, Rose stabbed the end call button, cutting off Jake's next words. She fell backward in her chair, trying not to feel bad over what she'd just done. But he didn't understand – she didn't understand, so how could he? She curled her knees up to her chest, bringing her arms around her shins. She tried to settle the emotions running rampant within her body.

Master had lied to her; Master had often lied to her and she knew that. But the thought that he had lied to her about her own body – the thought that there was something wrong within her – made her cringe. This was her body, but what if it was not the one she had been born into? What had he done to her (because she had decided that he _had_ done something)? Had he rewired her brain; were her thoughts her own? And if it wasn't her brain, what had he done to her? Had he done it even before she had been born? Had he known her birth mother and altered her in the womb?

All of these questions – ones she would never have answered – made her head ache. Master was dead. She had no way to find the woman who had given birth to her, whether it was an outsider or someone within the Clan. Clan mothers never knew who their children were and if it were an outside mother then it could have been anyone.

Rose thought she knew who she was. She had been Master's little pet: strong, brilliant, and beautiful. She had watched that image of herself shatter as she realized the truth: the truth of how manipulative he was; the truth of the prophecy; and the truth of the American Dragon.

She knew that if it wasn't for Jake, if it wasn't for falling in love with him, then she would have remained the Master's little puppet for the rest of her days. She would have thought that she was independent and capable, while he controlled things from the back burner.

Falling in love with Jake had been a blessing. She could remember what she had been like before she had been with Jake, when she had been Huntsgirl completely and Rose had been merely a hobby. Back then, she would never have imagined that she could sit in a chair and be worried and frightened. Then, she had been utterly ruthless – exactly what the Huntsmaster always praised her for. If she wasn't being bloodthirsty, then she wasn't being right.

She hated who she had been then. She had loved it and embraced it when she was living it, but looking back, she had done so much wrong. She carried so much innocent blood on her hands (and some not-so innocent blood, she conceded, remembering the Clan member she had murdered in his own bed). Some of her killing had been justified, but not even half of it had a good reason except for 'Master's orders'.

She felt like a human being now, compared to then. Then, she had felt like a machine – a killing machine. She hadn't felt anything; she hadn't _wanted_ to feel anything. Now, she had nothing but emotion filling her. It was new, it was different, and she liked this way of life much more than she had liked the old one.

She just needed to do some adjusting.

She picked up the phone and called Jake back.

"I'm sorry," she blurted.

"I get that it's hard, Rose, but I'm here to help you, not to have you get mad at me."

Rose took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to describe what was going on inside her head, knowing that there weren't any. "There have just been so many changes lately. I'm not dealing with it properly, though I don't know what properly would be. I just want to have peace and unity throughout everyone, and then I want to be able to enjoy that."

"We'll get there. With every day that passes, we only get closer, right?"

"Right …" Rose agreed. "Either way, I'm still sorry."

"It's all right. It's stressful. But the Dragon Council meeting is just around the corner, we'll get everything sorted out then."

"For better or worse," Rose added miserably.

"Until death do us part."

"That's not funny."

Jake chuckled. "What, scared of dying?"

"No," Rose retorted. She had never feared her own death. "I'm scared of you dying. Especially with that close call last year. It's not something I'll ever get over and it's just not funny."

"You're cute when you care about me."

"Then I must be adorable all the time," Rose retorted.

"You are."

As she listened to his voice, she felt the worries and the stress begin to melt away from her. They would figure things out, somehow, they always did. They had proved that. And he could bring peace to her – no matter how chaotic the world got, he would always be there to keep her grounded and remind her what she was breathing for.

"You're not too bad yourself," Rose murmured. "In fact, you're pretty damn great."

"I love you, Rose."

"I love you too, Jake."

(-.-)

"I'm antsy because I've never been on a plane before, Kyle's antsy because he's not prepared to be around that many dragons, and you're antsy because?"

"Because the Clan is being left in the hopefully capable but nonetheless inexperienced hands; because I don't know what the Council is going to say; because I still haven't found any records on me; because I'm antsy for the sake of being antsy," Rose snapped at Nicholas. She tapped her foot against the lobby of the Huntsclan, trying to release her jitters before the car arrived to take the three of them to the airport.

"That's a lot to be worried about," Kyle observed.

"I've always got a lot to be worried about," Rose swiftly pointed out. "An entire Clan, spanning over multiple countries, and trying to take on the responsibility of a magical community –"

"Stop the rant, please," Nicholas sighed. "We understand the kind of pressure you're under."

"Sorry," Rose replied. She played with the ends of her hair, staring out the glass front doors. "The car is here."

She picked up her duffel bag and headed outside, Nicholas and Kyle rushing to keep up. The trunk popped open and Rose looked down. They were only going to be gone for the weekend, but someone had brought a _lot_ of bags – she was willing to bet that it wasn't Lao Shi, but she couldn't imagine Jake bringing so much either. She, Nicholas and Kyle spent a few long minutes rearranging the others' luggage so that their own bags would fit in.

That over with, they made their way to the doors and slipped inside of the town car. It was big enough to fit all of them comfortably – even Fu, who had been packed into a dog cage to keep up appearances for regular humans.

He saw Rose and whined before asking, "Do I look like a regular dog?"

"Until you started asking questions," Rose giggled. "Are you going to be able to keep quiet for the duration of the plane ride?"

"Maybe." Fu shrugged in the confines of the cage. "I'd prefer to sleep for the plane ride. They're not my favourite."

Rose snuggled into Jake's side, a realization coming to her. "Are you the one that packed about forty bags?"

"A dog needs his things!"

"Fu's a pack rat," Jake whispered in her ear. "He can't go anywhere without bringing everything and the kitchen sink."

"I heard that!" Fu growled. "I am _not_ a rat."

"You are an overgrown rat," Lao Shi said matter-of-factly. "Now calm down and practice being a regular animal."

"I am anything but regular!" Fu replied with sass, but he settled down in the cage, accepting his fate.

"How long is our flight?" Nicholas asked.

"Only a few hours."

"How vague," Kyle snorted.

"Eight hours," Lao Shi amended. "We will be on the plane for eight hours."

"I don't like the sounds of that," Nicholas squeaked.

"Man up," Kyle advised. "And get an extra barf bag. If you puke on me, I will _never_ forgive me, you hear me?"

"I'm not going to puke!" Nicholas proclaimed, before pausing and adding, "Well, I don't think I will."

"That gives me so much confidence," Kyle groaned with an eye roll.

The town car lurched to a halt in front of the airport. Nicholas let out a squeal before seeming to get a grip on himself. He flung himself out of the car first, going around to the back of the car where the trunk had already been opened. As the rest of the company filed out of the car, he was loading bags onto the sidewalk.

Rose paused, watching with a smile as Jake tugged and pulled Fu's cage out of the car.

"How much do you _eat_?" He complained.

"I am perfect just the way I am," Fu retaliated, his voice echoing from inside of the carrier.

"I thought dogs didn't talk," Rose exclaimed with mock-surprise, rapping her knuckles on the top of the cage.

"Don't do that," Fu whined. "It hurts my ears."

"Fu," Jake said warningly.

"Hehe," the dog chortled. "I meant, _woof, woof,_ Rose."

"What a comedian." Jake rolled his eyes as they all filed into the airport.

**Hey, guys, it's my birthday! Review, pretty please?**

**I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my beta: **_**Gift Of The Dragons.**_

**~TLL~**


	5. Beatified

"Wow," Rose gasped, staring starry-eyed at the island. "It's _gorgeous_."

"And you three," Lao Shi added to their amazement, "are the first non-magical creatures to ever set eyes on it."

"Ever?" Nicholas blanched. He had never intended to be part of history; had never intended to change the world. Now, he was a part of something much bigger than himself, and all he wanted was to live up to the challenge set before him. Huntsmistress Rose was their leader, but he was right behind her. His name may not go down in the history books, but he would know that he was there – he walked beside her – and that would be enough.

"Ever," Lao Shi repeated with a nod.

Fu stretched, limbs cracking after spending hours spent cooped up in a cage. "Let's go see our rooms and get settled in, hmm?"

Before they could take another step, however, a dragon swooped down ahead of them. Changing into his human form, he dropped neatly to the floor just ahead of the group.

"Lao Shi," he greeted with a bow. "And, Jacob Long – I heard that you were back."

"Better than ever," Jake said coolly.

"Rose, Nicholas, Kyle," Fu broke in, taking it upon himself to make introductions, "This is Benjamin. He became the Australian Dragon after his elder brother, Fred, disappeared a while back."

Rose was quick to control her facial features, giving nothing away. She wasn't about to break it to Benjamin that the Master had kidnapped the old Australian Dragon and smuggled him into the U.S.A., specifically for Rose to kill and prove her prowess to the Master. It seemed unnecessary to add to his pain, and it also seemed detrimental to their mission. She knew that her past grievances would, most likely, be put on trial tomorrow morning, but she wasn't about to announce anything; not before she knew the full scope of the dragons' knowledge, that is.

"How can we help you, Benjamin?" Lao Shi asked. "We are very tired from our travels. We were about to go to our rooms."

"The Council is … wary of allowing three Huntsclan members free reign of our island, especially one like _her_."

"Watch your tone," Jake snapped. "Respect her."

Rose fought to keep her surprise off her face. What did Jake have against Benjamin, anyway? Usually he understood that she could fight her own battles (though his protective instinct never did sit quietly) and didn't speak for her, knowing how it irked her. And she would have said something against Benjamin, if there had been a moment before Jake had broken in.

"Of course." Benjamin forced a smile on his face. "I didn't mean any disrespect."

"I'm sure," Rose replied. "Continue on."

Sometimes, when you're powerful, you have to remind people that you have that power. Though she was sure that Benjamin, from the way he was looking at her, had no actual respect for her. It was something that Rose had encountered from time to time, though those moments became rarer as her reputation spread. Men tended to underestimate her because she was a woman, until she kicked them in the face and left them lying in the dirt.

"The Council sent me to keep an eye on them while they are here."

"One dragon for three people?" Fu asked. "That doesn't sound right."

"I am here to keep an eye on Huntsboys 88 and 89," Benjamin clarified.

"They are people, not numbers," Rose barked. "Call them by their names."

Benjamin forced a smile. "As you wish, Huntsmistress. I was sent to escort Huntsboys Nicholas and Kyle to their rooms. The Council has requested Lao Shi, Jacob Long, and Huntsmistress Rose to go to their chambers immediately."

"The meeting isn't until tomorrow," Jake protested.

"I am only telling you what they said to me. I can do no more."

"Well, we must obey," Lao Shi resigned. He pinned Benjamin with his eyes, the ancient orbs glimmering with mirth. "You and the boys can take our bags to the room while we go meet with the Council."

Benjamin cringed. "But of course."

Rose, under the pretense of depositing her duffel, whispered to Nicholas and Kyle. "I don't care if we're here to make friends. I don't trust him, and I can clearly see Jake has an issue with him. If he does _anything_, kick his ass."

"Yes Huntsmistress!" They chorused, eyes flying to Benjamin like they wanted him to do something.

"But keep in mind, we are here to make friends," Rose said, taking in their trigger-happy expressions.

"Yes, Huntsmistress."

"I will see you soon."

"And you as well!" Nicholas called.

With a final nod at them, Rose followed Lao Shi and Fu, keeping step with Jake.

"Why do you think they want to meet with me now?" She whispered, anxiety breaking in every syllable.

"I think they're just paranoid about having humans on the island. And they know that you're dangerous; they know your reputation. They just want to have control over their territory. You wouldn't let an unknown dragon roam freely in the Huntsquarters, would you?"

Rose snorted. "No. _You _don't even roam freely in the Huntsquarters."

"I'm feeling the trust and love, babe."

Rose rolled her eyes at him, but felt better after the brief banter. Jake reached over, squeezed her fingers, and let go just as briefly.

They had arrived at the Council chambers.

Rose walked in, glancing around her surroundings, but not feeling intimidated by this place in the least. In fact, with the security measures the Council seemed rushing to put into place, she felt as though she were intimidating, rather than being intimidated. It was an interesting feeling - a blast from the past, really – and she was finding she liked being seen that way again.

"Good afternoon, Council." Lao Shi greeted.

"Afternoon," the tallest man rumbled. "I am Councilor Andam. Welcome, Huntsmistress Rose. It is truly an honour to have you here."

"I am truly honoured to be here," Rose responded, sincerely.

"We will go through official proceedings tomorrow, beginning at ten a.m.," Andam explained. "Right now, we would like to talk frankly about you being on our island. This is our sanctuary. We do not want to think the worst of you, but, as I'm sure you can understand, we do not, at this moment, think the best of you."

"I do understand," Rose concurred.

"Well," he smiled thinly. "That is one obstacle out of the way. We would like to place a dragon guard on you for the duration of your presence."

"Like the guard you already forced on my companions?" Rose demanded.

Andam actually grinned at her. "Benjamin is harmless. And I have no doubts that if your companions truly wanted to defeat him, they would be able too – I doubt the weak become second hands to the Huntsmistress."

Rose could only offer a gesture of acceptance.

"But it comes down to this: either you accept our guard or you remained confined to your rooms. I would hate to deny you the chance to explore our island, but if necessary, it would be done."

"I see. Who would my guard be?"

"The Irish Dragon, Brigh." Andam replied. "She is elderly, and gentle. She is more to keep an eye on you, rather than keep you under control. We are not here to be threatening. We just want to be aware of you."

"I see. And would Benjamin remain assigned to my companions?"

"That was our initial plan. Though, Huntsmistress, if I may admit something to you – we did not assign Benjamin to your companions for the sake of controlling your companions; Benjamin is new to his duties, and he needs to encounter some … obstacles … before he is ready to fully embrace what it means to become the Australian Dragon."

"You're testing him?" Rose questioned.

Andam relaxed back in his chair. Rose saw how the other Council members looked at him (though they remained silent, allowing him to speak for them) as though they couldn't believe he was telling her their plans for Benjamin. Rose was glad he was; it was them demonstrating their trust in her before they had any concrete reason too. If the weekend continued in this manner, Rose may just reach her goal after all.

"Yes, I suppose we are."

"If I may inform Nicholas and Kyle of this, he will indeed get tested. They will be mischievous but not cruel."

"I think that is a good idea." Andam agreed. "But, do you consent to Brigh?"

Rose glanced at Lao Shi. "Are you acquainted with her?"

"I am. She is even older than I; very knowledgeable and very maternal. She will not cause you problems. She will only observe."

Rose nodded, trusting his judgment – something she had come to do over the past year and a half, though she could not pinpoint exactly when.

"I consent to Brigh." She agreed.

"Excellent." Andam smiled at her again. "She will meet you at your room – I am sure you want to freshen up before you go exploring."

"I do." Rose smiled at him in return. "I look forward to talking to you tomorrow."

"As do I, Huntsmistress, as do I," Andam said with a nod before dismissing them.

They traipsed back out in the open air.

"I feel bad for Benjamin," Fu mentioned as they walked.

"Why?" Rose asked.

"He was never trained like Fred; never really considered by his parents. Fred, though obnoxious, was the golden boy – the first male Australian Dragon in seven generations. And Benjamin really looked up to his brother. It can't be easy to have him disappear and not know what happened to him."

"Mmm," Rose murmured.

She felt Jake's eyes on her.

'Do you know what happened to Fred?" Jake asked her, coming to a stop.

She heard Lao Shi and Fu halt as well, before feeling their eyes fall upon her.

"I do," she admitted.

"He's dead," Jake stated.

"He is. Not last Christmas, the Christmas before."

"Rose, you must tell us what occurred."

Rose glanced at Lao Shi. "I don't want it to come up as a strike against the Clan later."

"It's just us here," Fu said. "What's the story?"

Rose sighed, and spilled every detail. How she'd fought against Fred to prove that she could without the use of technology. She went down to every, last grisly, detail, including how she'd had to injure him so badly that he couldn't fight against her when she finally wrapped her hands around his neck, strangling him to death.

She looked to Jake, who looked positively horrified. Lao Shi had a calm acceptance on his face; Fu looked disgusted; but she couldn't take the way Jake was looking at her.

"It was a long time ago," she said quickly. "Things are much different now."

"Was the Australian Dragon the last one you killed?"

Rose shook her head. "No, it wasn't. Not much longer after that, a week, maybe two, there was a small group of dragons discovered. A scout saw them transform in Central Park and got photographs of their dragon and human forms. It appeared to be a full dragon family travelling through New York. I was sent to dispatch the six of them.

"We discovered the hotel room they were staying in. I slipped in while they were asleep. Three children went quietly. The final one let out a whimper before I ended him. I didn't think anyone had heard, but when I went to locate the parents, the mother was out of bed. She made enough noise to wake the father. I dispatched her quickly, before she had time to transform. The father, however, came out to face me as a dragon. It was a horrible fight, but I conquered." She took in a breath, meeting Jake's eyes. "It was him that created the scar along the back of my neck, the one you're always running your fingers across. One of his tail spikes caught my skin."

"I wasn't aware there were any other dragons in New York at the time." Lao Shi shook his head, disappointed in himself. "Ah, well, let's get back to our rooms."

As Fu and Lao Shi went on ahead, Rose grabbed Jake's arm. He quickly pulled out of her grasp.

"What's wrong?" She asked. "You knew that I did things like this – worse things."

"Worse things than murdering an entire family? You looked down at innocent children and killed them. How old were they?"

Rose shrugged. "All under ten, I think. Look, there's no defending my mindset back then, but I can't change anything. And, like I said, you knew I did things like that. Why are you so upset right now?"

"Picturing you wrapping your hands around the neck of a dragon after beating him to a pulp is not a comforting image."

"I've changed, and I wouldn't do that to you."

"But you almost did. Before we knew each other's true identities, think of how many times we fought? Both of us would have gone in for the kill if we could have, but we were to evenly matched." Jake's voice dropped. "At least we were, when we were children. Now, I think you have surpassed me, and that makes me fear for my life."

"Jake, I wouldn't –"

"It's not a question of whether or not you _would_," Jake interrupted. "It's the fact that you _could_."

"Jake…"

"Let's just go to our rooms, okay?"

"Okay," Rose agreed, feeling absolutely awful.

**The Irish Dragon's name is pronounced "Bree".**

**I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my beta, **_**Gift Of The Dragons.**_

**~TLL~**


	6. Consecrated

There came a sharp knock at Rose's bedroom door. She hurtled to her feet, using her enhanced abilities to flash to the door. She usually tried not to use them – they still made her uncomfortable and added to the fact that she was feeling bitter over the fact that Master had probably genetically altered her, and she was even worse now – but she was praying the person on the other side of the door was Jake, who had been ignoring her for hours now.

She opened the door but was only greeted with Fu. Without waiting for an invitation to enter, he sauntered past her and into her room. Rose nodded to Brigh, who was settled into a nook not far from Rose's door, book in her lap, before she closed the door and faced Fu.

"Nice rooms, huh? This place really is a paradise, and it looks like the Council went all out for you," the dog rambled.

"Somehow, I don't think you're here to discuss the Council's hospitality," Rose mentioned.

"I knew you were a smart one," Fu agreed. "Do you know why I'm here?"

"Jake?" Rose guessed, knowing that's _exactly_ what it was.

"Bingo! I heard your conversation … totally by accident."

"Mmmhmmm," Rose acknowledged.

"I mean, you have to see it from his point of view – you _are_ a scary figurehead."

"I don't _want_ to scare him. I never thought that I did before. I mean, we're both powerful people. We could very easily destroy each other, and I always thought that was one of the most amazing parts of our relationship. For a really long time, we were trying to kill one another – even if we didn't know who the other really was – and we were able to evolve past that. To be perfectly honest, even though I would have done the right thing after finding out the Clan's true past, he's one of the reasons I'm trying so hard to make this magical unity thing work."

Fu paused for a moment, thinking over what she had said. "I think you'll evolve past this too. But I think it might need a little time. C'mon, Rose, up until eighteen months ago, you were the villain. The vast majority of us feared the Huntsgirl more than we ever feared the Huntsmaster because, though he controlled it all, you were the one doing the dirty work – you were the one leaving a trail of bodies in your wake.

"Jake has _always_ been the hero. From the time he was very young, even before he had his powers, great pressure was put on him to do the right thing because Lao Shi knew what he would be. Right and wrong has always been black and white for Jake, while you lived in the grey area. And, though he knew of how fearsome you were – he fought you when you were young teenagers and was constantly told horror stories of the Huntsgirl and the Clan – I don't think that he ever considered just what your past consisted of.

"The Huntsclan has always been a mystery that we, as magical creatures, were never able to penetrate. Anyone who tried always came up dead or was never seen again. Yes, we heard stories. Yes, we assumed things. But we never knew _exactly_ what you guys were up to, what crimes you were behind, or what exactly your plans were. It was terrifying, not knowing when the Clan would strike next, not knowing how large the operation was – and knowing what I do now, I see how much we underestimated the Clan and what you could do.

"And I think Jake created a disconnection between Rose and the Huntsgirl. He knows who you are and what you can do, of course, he's not an idiot. But I don't think he ever really thought about how the Huntsgirl – the murderous girl who terrified him whenever Lao Shi told him a story – was the same girl he now loved. And now he's being confronted with the fact that you don't just have magical blood on your hands, you have dragon blood on your hands – the blood of people he once knew, once had conversations with.

"And ever since you received the heightened skills – even though your blood was spilled, I think the gems knew that you had defeated them – he's now having to come to terms with the fact that if you two ever were in a _real_ fight, he couldn't win against you. Jake's powerful. He's only going to get more so with time, if the drugs didn't stunt that, but he will never match you again. You now have the ability to eradicate anyone you please, and could do it effortlessly.

"I don't know if I'm explaining the kid properly. But I think I got quite a few things right. It's not that he doesn't trust you, it's not that he doesn't love you, it's that your past will forever be with you, and I don't think he's ever really thought about what the means before – especially since we know so little of the Clan's deeds."

"So what do I do? How do I get him to not look at me with fear?"

The fact that she had once been used as a horror tale for Jake – one that showed the true horrors of the world he lived in and the biggest threat he would fight against – made her absolutely sick. It was probably true for a lot of young magical creatures though – she could picture mothers with their young, whispering, _'Now remember, do exactly what I say, or the Huntsgirl will come and steal you from your bed and you will be gone' _and expanding on the horrendous deeds that they assumed she had committed (they had probably only gotten the less terrifying of her deeds, which, in itself, was bad enough). She had been a truly horrible person due to the tutelage of her former Master and she was going to have to spend the rest of her life atoning for it – she was prepared to spend the rest of her life atoning for it.

But none of it mattered if Jake gave up on her.

Fu shrugged. "All you can really do is talk to him."

"Will he talk to me?"

Fu rolled his eyes and snorted. "You're the Huntsmistress. No one says no to you."

A smile flitted across Rose's features. "Do you think if I went and talked, he'd listen?"

"I don't know. The boy is thick-headed, just as much as the old man is. There's a fifty-fifty chance. But you have to make him listen to you. If there's one thing I've learned about Jake since he hit puberty, is that, if you let him, he will sulk forever and never learn a thing. Sometimes tough love works best."

Rose nodded. "Thanks, Fu. I appreciate it."

The ancient dog shrugged under her words. "I just know that you were the only one to reach him when he was at his worst; I know that I've never seen him so happy when he talks about someone. I want the best for him, I do love him, and I know that you _are_ the best for him. I know that he loves you and vice versa. I don't want to see this thing crumble. You guys have a lot of work to do, but I believe you could do it."

Acting on instinct, Rose grabbed the dog into a hug. "Really, Fu, thank you."

When she placed him back on the floor, he looked slightly embarrassed. "Go talk to him."

Taking his advice immediately – after all, she and Jake had been stewing separately for almost four hours now – Rose left her room. Brigh was on her feet the moment she saw Rose outside of her room, but the young girl quickly waved down the elderly dragon, gesturing to Jake's room – right across the hall from her own. Brigh nodded in understand and lowered herself back down into her seat, reopening her book.

Rose knocked on Jake's door.

"I'm not talking to you again, Fu!" The boy shouted from inside.

Rose shook her head at the dog's gall – Jake was being too stubborn, so might as well try the other teenager.

She knocked again.

"What?" Jake growled. She heard him literally stomp over to the door before he threw it open. He looked down at Rose. "Oh … hi …"

Taking a hint from Fu, Rose didn't wait for an invitation, she simply breezed inside. "I think we should talk."

"Did Fu come see you?" He asked.

"Maybe," Rose admitted. She turned around to face him, eyes glancing upward to meet his own. "I get that you're upset with me –"

"Upset isn't the right word. I'm just … I don't know. Surprised isn't the right word either, but it's close. I guess I didn't expect you to be that ruthless."

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm just as disgusted as you are by my past actions. I'm trying so hard to change everything – I'm so different from how I was, and I need to keep getting better – but I wouldn't be half the person I am now if it weren't for you. I can't do anything without you.

"I know I can't do anything to change what I did in the past, though I really want to. I want to change how the public views me because I want to make the Clan a hero for once. But I know that doesn't change the fact that we, _I, _was once the utmost evil.

"I don't want people to fear me anymore – especially you. I would _never_ hurt you, Jake. I would _never_ want to; not anymore. I love you far too much to ever go back to what I was, or let my Clan do the same. Okay?"

"Rose…" Jake shook his head and ran his hand through the black and green strands. "Can you ever really change? Can what you've become ever overcome what you were?"

"Yes and no. Of course I can change – people change all the time. It doesn't mean that it's going to be easy. It doesn't mean that anyone will be able to accept that the Clan is different, but it's happening and it will continue to happen. As for overcoming who I was, I don't think that will ever happen. I was evil. I was ruthless. I was cruel. Those traits will always stay with me, but instead of giving into them, I will use them to better myself. I will use them as a reminder of where we were and how far we are going to go.

"I'm never going to go back there. And I refuse to let my past be the thing that comes between us. I just hope that you can come to terms with it. I don't expect forgiveness and I certainly don't expect acceptance but I need you to love me anyway."

"Rose…" Jake breathed.

He walked across the room, arms outstretched to bring her into them. He bent his head to her ear – though they were both tall, he didn't have to bend much – and told her, "I love you no matter what."

_Thank God_, Rose thought, though she couldn't bring herself to voice her thoughts. She didn't know what she would do if Jake ever gave up on her, if he realized that she really wasn't worthy of someone as great as him.

"I love you too," she told him, because it was true, because it would never stop being true.

She tilted her head so that she took his lips in her own and kissed him. She kissed him to tell him everything she still wasn't strong enough to say; to tell him '_thank you for loving me even though I don't deserve it'_; to just kiss him because he was _Jake_ and that would never stop meaning the world to her.

God, she loved this boy.

**I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my beta: **_**Gift Of The Dragons.**_

_**~TLL~**_


	7. Dedicated

Jake deepened the kiss, bringing his hands from the sides of her face down to her waist. Rose's own curious fingers were fiddling with the bottom of his shirt, before bringing it up and over the top of his head. He walked her backward, laying her down on his bed before sliding over her. Rose pressed her trembling hands to his warm chest, leaning her lips away from his so she could speak.

"Hey, Jake?"

"Hey, Rose?" He copied, meeting her eyes.

"I, um," Rose blushed, not sure how to say her next words – not sure how to ask him if he wanted her like _that_ now, because she felt that she was finally ready for him. She played her hands across his defined stomach muscles, trying to gather her thoughts though he was making her feel dizzy.

Jake kissed her temple, guessing what she was thinking. "I'm ready if you are," he whispered in her ear.

Rose smiled to herself, glad that she had someone who was so in tune with her and didn't make her say things that embarrassed her because he just _understood._

"I'm ready," Rose admitted. "But, um, do you have …?"

"'Course," Jake grunted.

"So you were expecting this?" Rose teased, playfully. "Is that why you brought me to this beautiful island?"

"Duh," Jake snorted, rolling his eyes. "It's got nothing to do with world peace – I just wanted you in bed."

"I knew it," Rose breathed, though the words were lost in a gasp as Jake removed her shirt and brought his lips to the tender spot on her neck.

Rose felt her hands shaking as she slid them down to the button and zipper of Jake's jeans. The closest she'd ever been to a man's groin was feeling Jake's against her when they were making out. As the Huntsgirl she'd never had much contact with males – it was strictly professional when she did – and, as Rose, no one had ever caught her attention. She'd been terribly busy, beyond all of that, and if she'd done something stupid and gotten herself pregnant, Master would have lost his mind and definitely would have terminated the pregnancy. When she was older, she knew that she would probably have to mate and produce an heir, though just because she'd had children it didn't mean they would take over the Clan – Master had children but here she was, ruling.

She knew that Jake had been with one girl before but that girl hadn't been _her_ and she didn't know how he was going to react to her body. Already he was tracing a finger along her scars. Once, she had lain in his bed with him as he caressed her injuries, but he hadn't known how she had gotten them. Now, he knew, but he didn't treat her any less tenderly now that he knew how tough she was.

Rose used her feet to work his jeans to the ground, and sucked in a breath when Jake's nimble fingers went to her pants. She felt a rush of heat inside of her body feeling his fingers so close to the space between her legs. After a moment, there was nothing between them but her bra, her panties, and his boxers.

It was so little but so much at the same time.

"We don't have to," Jake murmured in her ear.

"I want to," Rose assured him.

Using a bit of her supernatural strength (the only way she could move him while lying on the bed), Rose flipped him onto his back, straddling his waist. He let out a moan, caused by her position, and Rose couldn't help but shift her weight a little, creating friction between them. She watched his whole body tense and felt him swell beneath of her.

"You keep that up," he panted at her, "and we're not going to do this properly."

"And what does properly look like?" Rose asked, trying to make her voice sound sultry – though she had no idea how to do so.

Jake brought his hands up to the back of her bra, fumbling with the clasp. Rose waited patiently as he pawed around the garment, having absolutely no success. Finally, Rose took pity on him and reached back and undid it for him.

"I would've gotten it."

"I know. I'm just not that patient."

With swift fingers, Jake traced along her collarbone, before dipping further down her chest. Rose couldn't help but arch her back into his touch, thus grinding on him even more. With a swift movement, Jake flipped her back under him.

"I know how much you like being in control," he said as he slid her underwear off of her, fingers coming up to between her legs, "but let me have this one, hmm?"

"Mmm," Rose managed, not capable of further thought than that.

He, with just one of his fingers inside of her and a thumb on her clit, had her limbs feeling like hot lava and had her trembling from the inside out.

His hand left her and she released a tiny squeak of displeasure. Jake shifted over her, their skin colliding in delicious friction. Their chests – including her sensitive nipples – ground against one another (and a different sort of sound escaped from between her lips) as he shimmied his boxers off. With curious fingers, she reached down his body and lightly touched him.

She didn't know what she was expecting it to feel like but it was certainly … _softer_, than she would have imagined.

Just as her fingers had rested upon him, though, Jake's hand slipped down, moving her away.

"I'm a twenty-year-old boy, who has been waiting for a time we were both ready, which somehow took a year and a half," he reminded her quickly. "You can't be doing shit like that."

"Shit like this?" Rose asked, taking her free hand to him.

"Yeah, shit like that," Jake mumbled, but with a smile in his voice, coming down and gripping her hand. "Now stop it."

"Well, then do something to distract me," Rose challenged.

Jake kissed her strongly, before he rolled slightly, dragging his bag toward him. Rose waited, impatiently, running her fingers teasingly along the cradle between his hips, eliciting small noises from him. His digging became more and more frantic the lower down his abdomen she travelled, finally springing up with a square package in his hand.

"I was beginning to think you'd forgotten it."

"Oh, no," Jake said, sliding the condom over himself. "I brought you here with no other reason than to seduce you, remember?"

"Oh, right." Rose grinned, "How could I possibly forget?"

"No idea."

Jake slipped between her legs and Rose instinctively looped them over his narrow hips. She felt her stomach muscles clench as he found his place. She also felt his hesitation before he entered her.

"Jake, please," she begged, not even caring about the pleading by this time. She was arching up toward him, trying to bring him into her. She was beginning to feel as though she was going to explode if she didn't have him _now_.

Rose had never been known for her patience.

"Since you said please …" He cut himself off when he pressed his lips against hers, able to feel the suck of her breath and the pressure of her mouth when he finally took her.

(-.-)

Rose let out a yawn, curling closer to the warmth of his body. His t-shirt, which hung like a dress on her, bunched around her body as she moved. She curled her toes up, finding warmth on his thigh, toes brushing his boxers.

"How the hell are your toes cold?" Jake demanded. "We're on a tropical island."

In response, Rose rested her toes against his stomach.

He swatted her feet away and Rose returned them to his leg.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything; you know that."

Rose propped herself up on one elbow. "Your scars … I've never asked where you got them, specifically."

"If you want to know all of my injuries, we'll be here for a few years." He ran his thumb along the scar on the back of her neck; the one he had just recently learned the gruesome history of. "Same with you."

Rose shrugged, knowing that he spoke the truth.

"Why do you want to know anyway?"

Rose bit her lip. "It's a weird question, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Really weird, too weird. I'm sorry."

"Calm down," he smirked at her, dropping his hand to caress the net-shaped scar. "Tell me about this one," he requested.

"Just before I returned to New York – actually, this was one of the main reasons I returned to New York when I did, despite the stories and reasons Master made up – one of the Clan members was betraying the Clan. He had been telling this young girl in the city we were in all about the Clan. Now, the girl was like your Mom – she had a dragon lineage but not the dragon powers.

"I _knew_ it was happening but I hadn't yet time to prove it. I knew that I couldn't wait for the next time he went to see her to gather my evidence, either. I knew she would be reporting back to the magical side. So, I did what was only logical at the time …" Rose sighed. It would never get easier to tell him about her past follies, especially after the episode they'd had only hours before.

"They're both dead," Jake guessed.

"Yeah. I killed her right after he left. I waited until that night, when everyone was sleeping, to go after him in his bed. I succeeded but when the branch leader discovered me, they needed a quick way to subdue me before any other Clan members became injured. So, they threw a net over me. I fought against it, naturally, and it cut into my skin – thus the scar."

"Ouch."

"What about this one?" Rose asked, tracing her index finger along a deep scar near his heart. "What happened here?"

Jake looked down at the injury and immediately flashed back to a cold winter day, and shook his head. "Pick a new one," he rasped.

"What happened to anything?"

Jake reached up and dragged her against him, wrapping his warm securely around her slender form.

"All right," he said in a low voice. "I hadn't transformed in months – not since before rehab. I was meeting Haley. When I arrived, she was in danger and I realized that I needed to save her and the only way to do that was to transform. So, I did. And I got the scar when I was saving her."

"What were you fighting against? What big, evil monster got a piece of you?"

Jake kissed her forehead before continuing with the story – he was amazed that she hadn't recognized the tale yet.

"See, Haley was wearing the Air Gem at the time and someone thought they needed it."

Rose sat up, easily shattering his embrace.

"That was me?" She breathed, inspecting it more closely. "I thought my staff had barely caught you."

Jake shrugged. "It was worse in dragon form – all injuries are."

Rose pressed her palm against his chest and felt his heart beating.

"How many other wounds did I cause you?"

"How many did I cause you?" Jake countered.

"Touché."

"Let's not compare injuries," Jake suggested, tugging her back down into the mattress. "It happened, but it's not going to happen again, right?"

"No, of course not! I could never hurt you again, Jake."

"Good." He pressed a kiss to her temple, clinging to her tightly. "I wouldn't ever hurt you either. I love you."

"I love you too."

Rose closed her eyes, feeling exhausted but content with the world. This was where she belonged, oddly enough. Growing up, if anyone had ever mentioned that she would find happiness in the arms of the American Dragon, she would have gutted them. It was strange, how things could change – it didn't seem like any time had passed since she had been that impressionable young child, but it also seemed as though it were a lifetime ago.

It didn't matter though; it didn't matter where she had been, only where she was going.

**I don't own anything recognizable. Thanks to my beta: **_**Gift Of The Dragons**_**. As of today, I am back in school so I'm going to try to keep updates regular on Wednesdays, but please understand if there's interruptions.**

**~TLL~**


	8. Divine

It was extremely early when the wake-up call, via Fu, came. The small gray dog pounded on the door.

"Agoo," he howled at them. "I _know_ you're both in there. Wakey, wakey, Rose and Jakey."

"Permission to kill the dog?" Rose mumbled, her head aching as she began to feel the effects from her late, but incredibly satisfying, night.

"Permission to kill the dog," Jake granted, also feeling the effects from the night.

Fu knocked again before saying, in a slightly lower voice, "I _will_ send the old man in there to see your nakedness if you don't come out in the next, oh, five minutes."

Justified fear in their eyes, both Jake and Rose threw themselves from the bed. Jake scrambled for his jeans, kicking his boxers under the bed whereas Rose slipped into her clothing (impressively including her undergarments) in record time. A confident smile on her face, she gave Jake a kiss and sauntered out the door.

"So I wanted to ask you something," she mentioned to Fu.

"What's that?"

"I don't know what I'm supposed to wear. I was thinking that I should wear my Huntsclan formal robes but I don't want to be offensive."

"What do you wear the formal robes for?" Fu inquired.

"For meetings," Rose explained. "It's for when I have to meet with the Branch Heads. It's also what I wore when I first greeted the Branch Heads when I first met them. That's why I thought the formal robes would be appropriate."

"I agree. I think it would be a mistake to try and hide evidence of the Huntsclan while you're here – you can't. It's best to flaunt it and show the new positive sides because that is the whole reason we're here."

"You're so smart," Rose cooed, giving him a quick pet between the ears, which Fu eagerly leaned into.

"I know," Fu shrugged. "So what's the kid doing? He clothed?"

Rose's eyes glinted mischievously. "_Maybe_," she sang in a lilting voice as she headed down the hall, hearing a slight movement from Brigh so the elderly dragon could keep the young Huntsmistress in her sights.

Fu shuddered but let himself in the door, nevertheless.

Rose knocked once on Nicholas and Kyle's door, but hearing no protests that it wasn't a good time to enter, waltzed in. They were both on their respective beds in their pajamas, looking like they'd been expecting her.

"What are we wearing?" They chorused.

"Formal robes," Rose answered automatically. "I just asked Fu about it."

"Okay," Kyle said with a nod. "We guessed that it would be formal robes, but we weren't sure."

"_But_," Nicholas broke in quickly, "what we really want to know is how we're supposed to act? What if they ask a question that we don't know how to answer? What if they ask us bad things about you? I mean, I know _honesty_ but there are some things that I just don't know if I can say."

Rose smiled at him, leaning back against the door as she thought over her answer. "Obviously what you said is right – honesty. It's the key here; we're not going to get anywhere by lying to the Dragon Council, especially since we don't know how much they know. If we say something that they know not to be true, then their trust in us is shattered."

"Not that we're lying," Kyle added for her.

"No, exactly. My game plan is to try to keep them talking so that we can see more of what they know. Keep your answers short and to the point. If a question comes up that you really don't want to answer ask them to rephrase it. Other than that, just be as honest as possible because that's what we're here for."

"You know, this whole honesty thing is a little strange after being raised by a Clan that instructs you to lie all the time," Kyle joked.

Rose rolled her eyes at him. "_All_ the time? You would have tried lying to the old Master?"

Kyle gaped while Nicholas snickered at his friend.

"He's not _that_ stupid," Nicholas assured Rose.

"I don't know, _you're_ my best friend," Kyle sniped in return.

"That's as insulting to you as it is to me," Nicholas countered.

As the two began to bicker, Rose slipped back out the door with a reminder to get dressed – they were due in front of the council in an hour. The thought made her stomach erupt with nerves. An _hour_. She'd been working for a year and a half and that work, her past, and god knows what else would all come to a head in an hour.

It was such a small amount of time but she also knew the seconds would tick by slowly – tiny inches of eternity crawling along at an infuriating sluggish pace.

Rose quickly dressed herself. She brushed out her hair before securing it back into the long braid she always wore when dressed for Clan life. It was much easier to do battle with a braid than it was with loose hair flying around her face, and one never knew what would come up when one was part of the Huntsclan. (Also, a braid was a surprisingly effective weapon when whipped in an enemy's face.)

She applied light make-up and deemed herself ready.

Rose slipped outside her door and was surprised to find that everyone was loitering outside her door, apparently waiting on her.

"Are we ready to go?" Lao Shi asked as soon as she was outside.

Rose nodded crisply. "Do we have any idea what we're going to be asked?" She wondered of him.

Lao Shi shook his head. "I have gotten no hints, though I did spend the evening with Councilor Omina. She was very careful to reveal nothing, though I could hardly ask much her, for fear of being seen as impertinent."

Fu snorted. "Since when have you cared about that?"

"Since so much is hanging in the balance," Lao Shi growled, eyes turning to steel as he stared at the dog.

Fu shook his head, but wisely decided not to say anything.

Together they carried in on silence. When they reached the meeting spot, Rose felt a lot more anxious than she had yesterday. She didn't like the unknown and she was not looking forward to venturing inside. She didn't know what they were going to ask; she didn't know what they knew about the Clan; and, most importantly, she didn't know anything about _them_. She had no idea how they acted, she had no idea how they thought … Usually before she faced an enemy, she'd had time to take stock of who they were: she knew how they thought and she knew how they were likely to attack.

But these Councilors were people that she didn't know anything about and who she had grown up thinking were the enemy because they were dragons.

They were led into the chamber.

"Jacob long, Lao Shi, Rose, Kyle, and Nicholas; you have all been summoned here to the Dragon Council for three reasons: the purpose of defence, character witnesses, and discussion of unity," Councilor Andam began in a loud, booming voice. "Please take a seat in the chairs provided. When it is your turn to speak you will move up to the witness box. If you must ask a question before you are moved to the witness box, please raise your hand and we will answer you at the soonest available opportunity. Is that understood?"

"Yes," the small group below the Councilors chorused.

"Excellent. Councilor Kukulkan, if you would like to begin."

The Central American Dragon stood up and cleared his throat, shuffling a stack of paper he had in front of him. "A little over one and a half years ago, perhaps a month before Huntsmistress Rose took power, we were able to get a spy into the Huntsclan. He was also the first spy to come back alive from the Clan. He was only in for sixteen hours but in that time was able to collect an extraordinary piece of information, which I have in my hands now."

Rose struggled to hold in her gasp. There had been a _spy_ in the Huntsclan! She was, at the very least, relieved that it had not been under her watch. It had been under the old Master's … Rose allowed herself a smug grin over that piece of information.

Still, she leaned forward in anticipation as Kukulkan continued on. What kind of information would they have stolen from the Clan? She could think of numerous things that the Clan's enemies would have been interested in – none of which were missing.

"The Huntsclan keeps records of all its members. Our spy was able to get into this room and steal one of the records of, indisputably, the most important active Clan member to date." He met Rose's eyes. "Our spy stole the file of the current Huntsmistress."

Rose nearly choked on her tongue. _That_ was where her fucking file was?

She nearly tossed herself from her seat to run to Kukulkan and snatch the papers from his hands. She wanted to pore over the notes written about her, find out the truth about her past and what Master had done before it was read aloud in the Dragon Council meeting. She was barely able to contain herself – she gripped the side of the seat until her fingers ached. She needed to stay grounded.

"It is based on this file, and the information contained within it, that we have to interview the Huntsmistress in this fashion. We are doing it for the protection of the magical races. We want unity among the Clan and the magical creatures; do not misunderstand us. But we want to make sure that it is done right, and to make sure that it is done right, we have to trust one another completely. Do you agree, Huntsmistress Rose?"

"I agree completely," Rose murmured. "I'm glad we're having this meeting so we can come to trust one another."

"Will you please come into the witness box?" Kukulkan requested.

Rose left her seat and moved into the witness box. She folded her hands neatly in front of her and looked up at the Council, awaiting their next move.

"Have you ever read the contents of your file?" Kukulkan asked.

"No," Rose answered. She wanted to add more – perhaps explain that it was inappropriate for any member to read their file and she hadn't had the opportunity until she was Huntsmistress but hadn't been able to find it for now obvious reasons – but didn't say a word. After all, she had told Nicholas and Kyle to say as little as possible and she shouldn't defy her own rules. What kind of a leader did that?

"What do you know of your past?"

"I'm sorry; my past? All I remember is the Clan. That's all anyone in the Clan remembers."

Kukulkan paused, taking in her words. "I was speaking more of your birth. Do you know of your parents?"

"No."

He flipped to a page. "Did the Master tell you anything of your birth or conception?"

"No, he mentioned nothing."

"There are notes in here concerning that very subject. Did you know that the former Huntsmaster planned your birth? He created you in a lab – genetic alterations to make sure you were perfect. Did you know anything about that?"

It felt like a blow to discover that it was true.

"I have had reason to suspect that he had done something of the sort, but I had never known for sure."

"You were in born in New York on May nineteenth to a Chicago-native woman. She was not part of the Clan as the old Master, named Theron, thought it would be too risky. The male part of the equation was from a now-deceased Clan member. You were part of a twin set. You, however, were the only twin to carry the mark. Your sister was destroyed shortly afterward; she could not be adopted into the Clan due to her lack of mark but, with her abilities, she could not be allowed to live." Kukulkan looked at Rose's shocked face. "I was going to ask if you knew any of this, but looking at you now, I can see you didn't."

"No," Rose whispered, "I had no idea."

**Thanks to my beta: Gift Of The Dragons. I own nothing recognizable.**

**As yesterday was World Suicide Prevention Day, I just wanted my readers to know that if you are ever having any problems – **_**any**_** kind of problem, not just suicidal feelings – I am here for you if you need to say anything and I will try to help you in any way you want. Stay strong.**

**~TLL~**


	9. Enshrined

"Then," Kukulkan continued, "it would be safe to assume that you also did not know about the sedatives."

"Sedatives?" Rose squeaked. "I … no, I have no idea about that either."

"Theron made a note that, around the age of three, he finally had to accept that he had, as he phrased, _over created your abilities._ He says that you displayed abilities that were further than what he had anticipated on you having and he realized that he would be unable to control you in the future. Therefore, Theron made the decision to subtly medicate you without your knowledge so that he would be able to control you." Kukulkan looked up from the notes he was referencing and met Rose's eyes. "Obviously since the Huntsmaster is no longer present to medicate you, have you noticed physical differences?"

"Yes."

Kukulkan looked surprised on her answer. "And you did not say anything about it?"

Rose realized what he was saying – that she had tried to hide something from them – and nearly cut him off in her rush to reply. "Because I was told that the gems would enhance the abilities of the person who won the battle – I assumed that's what it was."

Councilor Omina, just to the right of Kukulkan, rose to her feet.

"In my hands," she said, "I have the official report of what happened that night – the one that you, Jacob Long, and Lao Shi submitted. It states in here that _you_ spilt your own blood. Correct, Huntsmistress?"

"Yes," Rose confirmed. "I cut myself on my own staff, as you know from reading the report."

"I was just confirming," Councilor Omina murmured, tight-lipped. "By spilling your own blood, the gems assumed your defeat; your death."

"Nicholas, Kyle," Councilor Kulde interrupted, offering an apologetic nod to Councilor Omina as he did so. "A quick question."

"Anything," Nicholas and Kyle chorused obediently.

"Did any of the Clan members receive enhanced abilities or powers after the battle of the gems?"

"No," Kyle answered forcefully.

"We asked all Branches; nothing was reported," Nicholas supplied.

Councilor Omina nodded. "Jacob Long," she said.

"Yes, Councilor?" Jake responded, rising to his feet.

"How have you felt since the night of the gems?"

"I don't understand," Jake admitted.

"Have you felt stronger; faster … anything of the sort?" Councilor Omina asked.

Jake frowned. "I was … _out_," he said, not wanting to mention his drug habit though the Dragon Council knew all about it, "of the dragon game for a _very_ long time. I was regaining my skills – building myself back up."

"Lao Shi," Omina requested, not even acknowledging Jake's words.

"Yes, Councilor Omina?" Lao Shi said – much like his grandson had. He also stood, his short stature even pronounced next Jake's height.

"You have trained Jacob Long since his first transformation, correct?"

"That is correct."

"So, it would be fair to say that you are most aware of his abilities, then?"

"Fu Dog and I, yes."

"Fu Dog," Councilor Omina echoed Lao Shi. "Would you also please rise, then?"

Fu quickly obeyed, slipping to his feet.

"Now, before Jacob took his extended break from his dragon duties compared to say, the last three months, how would you say his speed, agility, and so forth has been?"

Fu and Lao Shi exchanged looks.

"Improving, of course." Lao Shi said.

"The kid's at his peak," Fu explained. "It's obvious that he's going to keep improving. We thought nothing of it."

Omina nodded. "Considering the circumstances, we are not surprised that you did not notice. However, if we were to pit Jacob against another dragon right now, I am sure we would find that Jacob's abilities far exceed his opponent's. It was Jacob that received that skills from the gems – only Jacob, of course; the dragons are too advanced for the gem magic to affect more than one."

"What about me?" Rose interrupted from the witness box.

"What has been happening to you is a result from you lack of sedatives," Councilor Omina explained. "What you are becoming is what you were designed to be."

"The question here today," Councilor Andam said, speaking for the first time in the panel, "is whether or not you are going to be able to function past your," he took a moment to search for a word, "_enhancements._"

"I think I've been doing quite well," Rose said defensively.

"We are inclined to agree," Councilor Andam murmured soothingly, seeing that her temper was about to flair. "We are wondering if you are going to be able to continue to function the way you have."

"The sedatives, obviously, are out of your system completely after a year and half," Councilor Kulde mentioned, "but with every day that passes your modifications are growing stronger and stronger. We want to be able to ensure that you will be able to control them even better than you have been."

"Admittedly," Councilor Andam spoke up, "we all agree that becoming aware of your genetic modifications will keep you more vigilant about controlling them rather than them controlling you."

"Do not take us the wrong way," Councilor Kukulkan warned her. "The Dragon Council does not want to see you fail; we do not want to see the peace operations fail. But as mentioned before, trust plays a big part in this agreement and, as of present moment, we are unsure if we are able to trust you."

Rose's eyes widened. "I know I'll never be able to redeem myself from my past actions but I think I have proven that I am more than I was eighteen months ago."

"And we do agree," Councilor Andam told her, "but we need to be cautious. Surely you understand that; based on the Huntsclan's reputation, magical creatures are going to be hesitant about joining forces with you. We need to be able to assure them this is the right decision. But in order to offer those assurances, we need to be able to be completely confident in the decision. Right now, we are not."

Councilor Omina launched into an explanation of the Dragon Council's future plans surrounding the Huntsclan and magical peace. "We would like to remain in constant contact with you, Huntsmistress. We would also like contact with your Branch Heads. We would like to monitor, not only your actions, but the actions of all of your Clan Members. We would like access to all of your past, present, and future Clan files. Once we have sufficient faith in you, perhaps in half a decade at the very soonest, then we will recall this Council and discuss the Clan and magical unity further."

"No," Rose snapped, staring down the Dragon Council. "Absolutely not."

Councilor Andam furrowed his eyebrows at her. "On what grounds do you refuse?"

"On the grounds that I refuse to surrender control of my Clan to you," Rose growled, anger further ignited by Councilor Omina's side comment to Councilor Kulde which swiftly followed Rose's sentence.

With her enhanced hearing, Rose could very clearly hear her go, _"This is the kind of impertinence we were afraid of."_

"It's not impertinence," Rose cried. "I understand now. You don't want to work _with_ me; you want me to work _for_ you. The Huntsclan wants magical unity. We want to change the world perception of us. However, we are still the Huntsclan and we will fight for what's right. And what's right is this: unity and independence. We refuse to be held under anyone's thumb under the guise of a perfect world. I would be happy to work _with _you, Councilors, but the Huntsclan is, and will always be, an independent organization.

"We are not magical creatures. We do not practice magic. We use technology and human sciences to be where we are. We are not intending to utilize magic for our own purposes. We want to help protect what we once tried to destroy – under completely false reasoning, mind you, which we are willing to admit." Rose shook her head at the Council. "Do you not understand what the Clan has been going through to try and make this work? It would have been so much _easier_ for me to kill Jake. It would have been so much easier for me to take my Clan and tear down all that you have built. But I never will attempt to even _hurt_ Jake. I will never try to tear down what you have because it's precious.

"But, Councilors, my Clan is precious too. I acknowledge your ignorance on the way of the Clan because it's so secretive. I would have been happy to expand your knowledge but you don't want knowledge; you want control. But here are some truths about the Clan for you. We are _family_. We are _organized_. We are _respectful_. We abide by a set of rules and laws that are far older than any of you. We are proud but we are not afraid to admit when we were wrong.

"The Clan has been wrong for _many_ years and when we try to rectify you spit in our faces. You say we are not enough like you for you to be comfortable using us. We are not here to be used, nor are we here to use you. We came to help. We came to grow together.

"And I am really sorry you are unable to grow with us." Rose looked each of them in the eye. "Perhaps you will become as past as the Clan's evil actions."

With that she stood and swept out of the witness box, away from the Council. She was seething. All of her hard work hadn't paid off – she had thought the Council would go a lot better than it had. Wait five years to solidify peace? It was complete and utter bullshit.

Her step didn't give the slightest hitch as she passed Jake, Lao Shi, and Fu. She didn't react as Nicholas and Kyle bowed to the Council before leaving, lengthening their strides until she had one flanking both of her sides. They followed her out of the Council's meeting place. Once they were out the doors, Brigh followed behind Nicholas and Kyle, making it a party of four.

Rose didn't speak until they reached their rooms.

"Pack," she ordered.

"Huntsmistress – "

"No, boys. We'll talk at home. Pack," Rose repeated.

She swept into her own room, hurriedly throwing the few items that had managed to scatter into her bags. Once that was completed, she stepped out into the hallway. She only had to wait a few moments before Nicholas and Kyle had joined her.

"We're leaving," she announced, though it was obvious. "Brigh, will you please escort us off of this island?"

The ancient woman nodded. "If that is what you wish," she agreed.

As the trio followed the elderly dragon, Nicholas attempted to speak to Rose again.

"What about Lao Shi?"

"Fu?" Kyle pressed.

"Jake?" Nicholas added.

"The Council could come around –"

"No. I could see their intent in their eyes. If they want to come around, that whole damn Council has to come to New York to see me in person." She caught Nicholas' expression out of the corner of her eye. "Whether or not you understand, I swear, this is the right thing to do. We will not be giving up on what we have been doing – and I will try to expand magical unity on my own, or with Lao Shi and Jake if they continue helping, which I sincerely hope they do – and I hope that we are able to win the trust of magical creatures this way, though I think it will prove impossible."

Brigh, who had left Rose, Nicholas, and Kyle for a moment to converse with another, presumably, dragon returned.

"I have arranged your flight home," she said, handing over their tickets. "I will escort you straight to the airport."

"Thank you, Brigh." Rose inspected her ticket – it was flying out almost immediately. Brigh really knew how to get things done – something Rose was intensely appreciative of.

Though she had a sneaking suspicion the Council wanted her off of their island as much as she wanted to be off of their island.

**This chapter is unbeta'd. I read it over a few times so I hope I caught all of my mistakes. If anyone is/can recommend a good beta, I would be very appreciative!**

**I own nothing recognizable.**

**~TLL~**


	10. Honoured

Councilor Andam quickly waved a hand to keep the other Council members both quiet and still but neither of those things happened. The Council members quickly began to gossip between one another, words flying so low and so quick that, try as he might, Jake just couldn't understand what they were saying. He didn't have to understand the words though, to know the meaning. He knew _exactly_ what they were talking about – Rose and her fiery, dramatic exit.

"ENOUGH!" Andam roared, letting out a spurt of fire as he did so. The rest of the Council swiftly bowed to his limbs, closing their mouths and straightening up at their places. "If we are going to talk about this," Andam seethed, "We will do it in a calm and concise manner – it will be a group discussion, one opinion at a time so we can clearly find a result in this quandary. Understood?"

With grumbling agreement, the Council resumed their dignified expressions and faced the remaining three guests.

"Councilor Omina," Councilor Andam said calmly, "you seemed to have a very strong opinion on what just occurred. Would you like to share that with the rest of us now?"

Councilor Omina cleared her throat. "Yes; I would. I believe that this display just proves why we should not, as the expression goes, hitch our wagon to theirs. She is, not only unpredictable, but she has no moral compass. As the effects of her genetic engineering begin to take over, the Huntsmistress will only get more volatile. I fear what she will become in the future. I was hesitant about a partnership with her before but now I am dead set against it. We, meaning the magical community as a whole, simply cannot join forces with the Huntsclan."

Councilor Andam nodded as she spoke. Jake felt a tug of anger in his gut, but he pushed it away. There may still be a chance to rescue this mission (and it never did _any_ good whatsoever to have he and Rose lose their temper at the same time _that_ always ended in disaster). He needed to appear calm and collected, no matter what he felt on the inside.

Councilor Kulde spoke directly after Councilor Omina. "I tend to agree with you, Omina. I think that we should sign an agreement with the Huntsclan. However, it should not be the agreement we originally thought should be put in the words. I think that it should state simply, that the Huntsclan should not involve themselves with anything magic related. It will put an end to their tyranny and we will be able to monitor them from afar without their knowledge."

Jake nearly snorted at that. Like the Council could do anything concerning the Huntsclan without the Huntsclan knowing, especially since Rose was now sure to be hyper vigilant after the Council meeting.

"Councilor Kulde," Councilor Andam requested, "What is your opinion on this matter?"

"I think we should cease contact with the Huntsclan immediately," the bearded-man replied. "I have a very negative feeling when I think of the Clan and the new Huntsmistress. Perhaps I _am_ being close-minded and prejudicial but magical creatures have come so far on their instincts and it would be unwise to ignore those now."

"Is that all?" Councilor Andam asked, surprised at the brevity of Councilor Kulde's speech.

Councilor Kulde nodded. "I needn't speak for hours to get my point across."

"Very well. Councilor Kukulkan, do you have anything to add?"

"I surely do!" Councilor Kukulkan cried with force. "I am in complete agreement with Councilor Kulde. _But_ I think we should take it a step further. Not _only_ should the Council refuse any more dealings with the Clan, we should make it mandatory for all dragons, and by extension, the rest of the magical creatures, to avoid contact as well. You know, Andam, that I was against having this meeting in the first place. I was not simply hesitant like Omina, I almost refused to appear at this meeting. How are we so willing to overlook the past of the Huntsclan? A new leader does not ensure a new direction! We are putting ourselves at their mercy."

"If I may play devil's advocate," Councilor Andam said slowly, thinking through his next words as he spoke, "Why do you think that a ban on Huntsclan contact would benefit the magical community?"

"Well they wouldn't be murdered in their beds for one!" Councilor Kukulkan exclaimed. "I don't see how we're considering this. Every moment one of us spends in one of their company, the more vulnerable we become. God only knows what kind of information she's already stolen from the American and Chinese Dragons! Huntsmistress Rose the kind of con artist that Huntsmaster Theron only wished that he could be. All because she's taking off her clothes for the young dragon!"

"Wait just a minute!" Councilor Kulde scolded Councilor Kukulkan. "I have put great faith in the American Dragon since he was just a young child –"

"Which was obviously misplaced because he was a heroin addict!" Councilor Omina snapped.

"Crystal meth," Jake whispered to Fu, tone dripping with irony. "I like how much attention they pay to the matters they decide upon."

"Welcome to reality, kid," Fu muttered in return.

"Nevertheless," Councilor Kulde said with authority and superiority, "I still have faith in him. And no one in this room can deny that Lao Shi is one of the wisest dragons alive today. Whatever Huntsmistress Rose's intentions originally were when it came to the American Dragon, if they were ill, I believe that Lao Shi and Jacob would already have discovered them."

"Are you telling me," Councilor Kukulkan sneered, "that you're a _romantic_, Kulde?"

Councilor Kulde fixed Jake with a look. "Approach, please," he requested.

Jake stepped closer to the Councilors' table. "Yes?"

"Can you please tell us about the beginning of your relationship with the Huntsmistress?" Councilor Kulde asked.

"I didn't know that Rose was of the Clan when I met her. I met her in high school. She sat beside me in a class. It wasn't until months later that she was revealed to be the Huntsmistress."

Councilor Kulde smirked at Councilor Kukulkan. "See, Kukulkan. I don't need to be a romantic about the situation – I simply see the reality for what it is."

Councilor Andam cleared his throat. "This has all been very interesting, but we need to reach a conclusion."

"Well," Councilor Omina sighed. "The Huntsmistress and her companions have already left the island so no more peace talks can be had; though I think the Council needs further _private_ discussion before we even think of inviting her back."

"There is your conclusion, Andam," Kulde said. "We convene and discuss where we should go from here."

Andam nodded. "Lao Shi, Jacob, Fu Dog; I am glad you were able to make the trip – please extend that to the Huntsmistress and her companions as well. Though I do not think the Council will be meeting again with this group for quite some time, I do believe that we will be communicating with you often for information.

"You are," Andam continued, "Of course, invited to stay on the island for another night. However, as stated before, the Huntsclan members have already departed and I would not blame you if you chose to follow them. The choice is yours."

"Thank you for having us," Lao Shi said politely. "But I think we will head home on the next flight."

"It leaves in an hour," Councilor Omina supplied quickly.

"Perfect," Fu exclaimed.

(-.-)

The Dark Dragon lifted his head. "It is very convenient that they think Chang is dead," he murmured to Theron.

"You keep saying that," Theron snapped, "but you have not yet explain to me _why_ it is so."

"The Dragon Council has a heavily connected network between all living members – there is not a thing on that island sanctuary that a Council Member is not privy to at any time; and it is all done through a magic network, there is no need for a member to physically be there. Since they think Chang is dead, they did not bother to exclude her from the network. Using a bit of magical trickery, I managed to manipulate the network so I have access to all of the information in place of Chang." The Dark Dragon snorted. "Silly old fools; they think they are untouchable."

"And you have gleaned some helpful information?" Theron asked, a twang of hope in his bitter voice.

"I have. I know where the Huntsgirl is going to be in roughly half an hour. You may get your chance to reclaim your prize then."

Theron's eyes gleamed hungrily. "Where?"

"The airport," The Dark Dragon revealed. "You may want to hurry."

And hurry Theron did.

The Huntsgirl was practically within his grasp again.

And, this time, he would never let go.

(-.-)

"Are you sure it's safe?" Nicholas demanded of Rose.

She gave him a look. "Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?"

Nicholas returned her steady gaze. "My question still stands," he defended. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Dude," Kyle clamped a hand down on Nicholas' shoulder and gave him a shake. "She's the Huntsmistress. When she's on the prowl, it's the rest of the world that's not safe."

"I do not _prowl_," Rose sniffed. "Regardless; I am going to walk back to the Huntsquarters. I need some time to clear my head and digest that disaster of a trip."

"All right," Nicholas heaved a sigh. "I can understand that."

Rose smiled and ruffled his hair. Despite the fact that she didn't _need_ Nicholas' understanding, she still appreciated it.

"I shouldn't be too long anyhow," she assured him. "And I'll alert you as soon as I return so you can stop your worrying."

Nicholas grinned sheepishly up at her. "I know you don't need to do it but I really would appreciate it, Huntsmistress."

"And so would I," Kyle snarked. "He's going to be utterly inconsolable the entire time you're gone. You should have seen what a wreck he was while you were on your Headquarters world tour. He must've gone through the list of everything that could go wrong at least a hundred times daily."

"Shut up," Nicholas ordered. "We'll see you back at the Huntsquarters, okay?"

"Okay," Rose agreed.

She parted ways with them at the airport door. They loaded themselves into a cab – stuffing their bags unceremoniously in the trunk – and she walked slowly into one of the alleys tucked next to the airport. Once she was away from prying eyes, she slipped on her Huntsmistress outfitted (having been tucked into her pocket for this exact reason). Leaving her street clothes lying on the ground, Rose prepared to vault back in the streets, unleashing the new supernatural (no, they weren't supernatural powers, were they? They were genetic alterations) lose inside of her so she could move faster than any living creature.

But before she could take a deep breath and take on more step, she felt something pierce her neck. Rose reached upward, pulling a dart from her flesh. She recognized the little object immediately – it was Huntsclan make, roughly two years old, empty – all of its sleeping drug emptied into her system.

She felt her body begin to get woozy. She attempted to fight it but it wasn't working. Whatever serum had been in this dart, it wasn't of the usual caliber the Huntsclan produced. It had been stronger – probably designed for someone much stronger, much larger than Rose herself.

She took a tottering step forward, wondering if she could find a safe hiding spot before the drug took over, but she fell to her knees. She tried to crawl, knowing that whoever had shot her would probably be coming after her soon.

She was heading for a manhole. Despite the disgusting nature of New York sewers, Rose knew them like the back of her hand. She could hide underground for as long as necessary.

She had just hooked her fingers on the manhole when she felt strong arms lifting her. She tried to fight but her mind was becoming as woozy as her body. She whacked her attacker's jawline with a weak elbow, but was curled into his arms easily – the drug had made her docile as a kitten.

Before she completely blacked out, Rose focused on the mask her attacker wore.

"Master?" She blurted before the tranquilizer took over.


	11. Inviolable

"Do you think it will hold her?" The Dark Dragon mused, eyeing the contraption the young Huntsgirl (Theron had always referred to her as such, and so, in consequence, that was what the Dark Dragon also called her) was now laced into.

It was a very dark looking set up. Theron had to be sure that she could not escape, which was much easier to do in theory. Theron knew what abilities that Huntsgirl was _supposed_ to have, he knew what abilities he had intended to program into her, but he knew that her engineering had certainly not been done as he had originally specified, prior to her conception. If his instructions had been followed, he never would have encountered the issues that he had with the Huntsgirl. She would have been perfect, rather than uncontrollable.

No matter, she was still the best thing he'd ever created. She was still the best Clan member to ever walk this Earth. And now that she was back in his custody, Master could once again ensure that she fell under his control and stayed there. It would not be easy, and it would most certainly be painful for her, but the results would be marvelous. Theron would control the universe – become Master of all, not just his Clan – with the Huntsgirl heading the war.

He grinned wickedly at the thought of the near future, his lust for it overpowering.

"Yes," Theron finally spoke, answering his partner. "It will hold her."

It had better. It had taken many months to design a cage that would keep her. Multiple layers deep, each set of fences were designed to be an obstacle. The entire room that the Huntsgirl was concealed in was designed to work against her – it was designed to learn her fighting style and skills and fight back. The first layer, the one that physical held the Huntsgirl, was just a set of thick metal bands. There was one around each wrist, ankle, thigh, and bicep, one around her stomach area, one around her neck, and one around her head. If she ever escaped those bonds, anchoring her to the floor, she was trapped inside of a tube – made of a transparent electrical substance. On the very outside of the tube was electric wire and barbed wire (the barbed wire soaked in a sleeping draught that would infect the Huntsgirl once she scraped herself on it); the two wires were so tightly knit that the Huntsgirl would have to literally rip them apart – and would either electrocute herself on it or put herself into a light coma. If she got past that, the former Huntsmaster had placed down a floor that would capture the Huntsgirl – making it impossible for her to move her feet, let alone take a step. This was all encased by four walls, made of the strongest substance known to man. The entrance to the Huntsgirl's prison was hidden above the false ceiling – the ceiling could be slid away, revealing not only the entrance, but several torture devices that the Huntsmaster knew he would eventually have to use on his bright protégée. Along the walls, were cameras so he could watch her every moment of the day and guns, filled with the same tranquilizer that he had used to take her down outside of the airport.

"And if not," Theron added lightly, "she still has you and me to get through."

The Dark Dragon snorted. "No one could get through the two of us."

Theron set his jaw. He wanted to agree with the Dark Dragon. He wanted to be completely confident that the little girl still unconscious in her cage had no prayer of getting out of the cage, let alone slipping past the two darkest masterminds alive at the moment. Yet, he couldn't. It frustrated him to no end that the Huntsgirl could thwart him – and had thwarted him in the recent past, so recent, in fact, that it still stung, painfully sore in the Huntsmaster's violent pride.

"She will probably not stir for a few hours yet. That was a lot of tranquilizer for her body mass," Theron said, effectively changing the subject.

"What are we going to do when she wakes?"

"Absolutely nothing." Theron decided. "If she remembers how she was knocked unconscious, she knows that it was me. Chances are, however, she won't remember how she got here. I want her _terrified_ of her surroundings and her captor. We're going to leave her alone for a few days – no food, no water, no contact."

"She's your project," the Dark Dragon murmured with a shrug. "I'm just along for the ride."

The Dark Dragon was along to be useful. Once he ran out of that quality, the Dark Dragon was going to die. But for now, he was Theron's partner, and had to be treated with the respect that the title implied.

"She'll be useful. It will take some work, but the efforts are nothing compared to the rewards that are waiting for us once she is prepared."

"That day will come soon enough – we have learned how to wait over the past eighteen months."

"Yes," Theron said, focusing on the Huntsgirl.

He wanted to go to her now. He wanted to restart her training at this very moment. But he mustn't. Leaving her alone would not only have the desired psychological and physical effects (he wanted her scared and he wanted her too weak to fight against him) but would heal the ache of his injured vanity.

So he would wait.

(-.-)

"I'm _worried_, okay?"

"Nicholas," Kyle huffed. "It's been like _forever_."

"Exactly! Where is she? Why hasn't she checked in? I can't remember the last time she went this long without contact, excluding flights!"

Kyle shook his head at Nicholas' theatrics. "Rose can take care of herself."

"Just because she _can_ doesn't mean that something didn't happen!" Nicholas retorted. He couldn't explain the anxious feeling that was growing inside of him (despite the fact that he was, in general, an anxious person, Nicholas was feeling that apprehension to the extreme in this moment). He wished that Andrew were here; he still remembered how secure the other Clan member could make him feel when Rose had been absent. He missed his passed friend terribly in this moment, knowing that Andrew would know what to do.

Despite the fact that Kyle and Nicholas were now two of the most powerful people in the Clan, and fell right behind the Huntsmistress in hierarchy when it came to the New York branch – Nicholas felt that he wasn't quite ready to handle this situation. Yes, he had dealt with a lot as the new rules, laws, and protocols were enforced on the Clan and Rose was travelling, but he had never thought about what he would do when Rose wasn't around for him to rely on.

He had never thought about what he would do if it were just him and Kyle.

"Maybe she went to Jake's," Kyle suggested. "If they were on the flight right after us, they would have gotten back a while ago. They're probably hashing over the meeting and beating on those old crones."

Nicholas sighed. "Maybe … but I can't see them meeting about the Council without us."

"Maybe she didn't go for a meeting. They're _dating_, they probably just went off together to chill out."

"If she's not answering her phone, then he's not going to answer his," Nicholas said, referring to Jake.

"Uh," Kyle thought. "Call the house? Fu or Lao Shi will probably answer. We have that number, don't we?"

Nicholas dug in his pocket for his cell phone and opened his contacts. He scrolled for a minute before finding Lao Shi's number, which had definitely been programmed in by Rose. He hit the number for **home** and set it down on the next, putting it on speaker.

It rang twice before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Jake!" Nicholas exploded in surprise. "Why are you home?"

"Uh…" Jake paused. "Where else am I supposed to be?"

Nicholas looked at Kyle, who was now starting to look a little panicked. The dark eyed teen had mostly certainly believed that his Huntsmistress was safe with her boyfriend. Now, he was also starting to worry. Kyle knew that Rose had needed to clear her head, but she had been gone for a terribly long time to not check in – not even a text message to say that she was fine. She hadn't answered any of Nicholas' multiple texts and calls (something that Nicholas had agonized over and Kyle had thought were ridiculous, but now Kyle felt like the ridiculous one; what if something had happened to Rose and because he had prevented Nicholas from searching for her earlier, they had lost her?).

"When was the last time you saw Huntsmistress?" Kyle demanded. He felt an odd pull on his gut and prayed that Jake didn't say that it was on the island.

But that is, of course, exactly what Jake said. "At the Council meeting, before she stormed out." He hesitated. "Why?"

"She's gone!" Nicholas blurted.

"Gone?" Jake repeated, voice barely above a whisper. "What the fuck do you mean 'gone'?"

Kyle took over for Nicholas, feeling slightly more calm about the situation (he chalked it up to denial).

"We got off the plane. Rose said that she wanted to walk home, clear her head. It wasn't that far, and she's tough. We said we'd see her back at Headquarters soon. We haven't heard from her since. Nicholas has tried texting and calling but she hasn't answered. We haven't told anyone else because we haven't wanted to alarm the Clan but we're really worried about her."

"I wish you'd contacted me sooner," Jake said, trying to think through his worry. "But I think you made the right call on keeping this under wraps. No need to panic over nothing. Get together a small group of trusted members. Don't tell them what's happening. Just say that there's been an incident around the airport and that you need them to go check for any signs of an attack or anything they chalk up to being unusual. Tell them to expect Gramps' and I, and probably Fu as well, to be on scene. Tell them that this is a joint effort, but it is highly classified and they are on a need to know basis."

"And right now, they don't need to know," Kyle added. "Got it."

"We'll put it together now," Nicholas squeaked.

"Right." Jake drew in a breath. "We'll probably beat you there. Wings and all."

"We won't be far behind you," Kyle assured him.

"Bye," Jake said, hanging up the phone.

He bolted down from the apartment to the shop. He tried not to let panic and fear get to him. Rose wasn't _gone_. Rose was stalking angrily along some alley, completely oblivious to what time it was or that there was a search party leaving for her. And even if something had decided to attack the slight woman thinking that she would go down easily, Jake knew that she wouldn't. With her recently uncovered genetic engineering, Rose was as close to infallible as a human could probably get.

"What's up, kid?" Fu asked, hearing Jake come flying into the shop. He was bent over a chessboard, pondering over his next move while Gramps was patiently waiting for his turn, flipping through an ancient text to occupy his time.

"Who was on the phone?" Lao Shi asked.

"Nicholas and Kyle. Rose hasn't been seen in a couple of hours."

Fu twisted his head around. "How long is a couple of hours?"

"Since they landed," Jake reported. "They're freaked."

"We'll leave immediately."

"I told them we'd meet the Clan search party at the airport. No one knows this is about her, though."

"Obviously," Lao Shi said. "No use making trouble where it isn't warranted."

Jake transformed into his dragon alter ego alongside his grandfather and hoped that Lao Shi was right: there was no trouble to be found.

**Please keep in mind that this was not betad and that I'm still in the process of acquiring one if anyone has any recommendations.**

**~TLL~**


	12. Sacred

Rose woke slowly. She felt heavy and disoriented. Using great care, she flexed her muscles, attempting to asses her injuries. She counted it as a major plus that all of her limbs appeared to in working order – despite the fact that she felt a peculiar weight on all of them. She encountered her first troubles when she attempted to sit up and move. She couldn't so much as turn her head from side to side, let alone move anything else!

Determined not to give way to the small swell of panic inside of her, Rose tried tapping into her supernatural strength, testing it against her bonds. The metal creaked from the pressure but did not break. Rose cursed the amount of tranquilizer in her system – she wasn't able to utilize her abilities properly; if she had been able to bring out her strength in full force, she would probably – no, she would most definitely – be free right now.

Knowing that escape was not imminent, Rose forced herself to relax and take a breath. She pressed her body tight against the floor (one that felt eerily like the concrete of Jake's basement) and began to assess her situation. She focused on each of her senses, carefully and systematically cataloguing the information that each offered her.

Sight: mostly blackness; sparks sometimes from around the room; there was a sheen about 1.5-2 feet away from her (though she didn't know what the 'sheen' could possibly be); she could not view past the sheen, whatever it was.

Hearing: faint buzzing; her own bodily noises.

Taste: Blood – a quick check ascertained that she had bitten her tongue at some point.

Smell: Metallic – but she didn't think that it was blood.

Touch: Stone or concrete (rough; hard; cold material) floor underneath of her gloves.

Rose reluctantly had to admit that she had not guesses as to where she was or what she was held in side of. And while she was playing the questions game, she might as well ask: When had she gotten here?; who had taken her?; why had she been taken? Though the very last one was obvious – she was the Huntsmistress; someone must have been angling for some kind of power play, but what did they want? Money? No one would risk angering the Clan for a bit of money; it wasn't worth it.

Perhaps it had been the Dragon Council that had done this. It _might_ have been a sound theory, but there were too many difficulties for it to hold up. For one, the Council could not have gotten from the island to the airport faster than she had (she assumed anyhow – she knew that dragons could fly faster than planes but the Council would have had to stay behind to talk to Lao Shi, Jake and Fu, they could not have followed her immediately) and Rose was quite certain that she'd been stolen directly after landing in America. Also, she thought that kidnapping her and strapping her to the floor lacked the refinement that the Council emanated, no matter what they were doing. And, one of the final holes in that theory, she'd seen for herself that the Council preferred to war with words. Dragons were, indisputably, the most fearsome creatures on Earth – easily able to destroy cities in a matter of hours; she couldn't seem them having the patience to leave her anchored to the floor, stewing in her own juices. As she'd seen with Jake and Lao Shi on several occasions, when a dragon's temper flared, they flared drastically.

All of her thinking – going over Clan enemies, possible motives, the whole nine yards – only led her back to the same two questions: who the hell took her and what they hell did they want?

(-.-)

Lao Shi shook his monstrous, lizard-esque head. "There is no sign of her. whoever took her either did not take her from close by or was able to hide the evidence disturbingly well."

Nicholas heaved a sigh. "The security tapes show her saying goodbye to us and then she disappears from view. And there's a lack of cameras in the surrounding area. She could have gone anywhere; anything could have happened."

Except whatever happened to Rose, whatever took her from them, had to be dangerous; had to be fearsome.

"Where do we go from here?" Kyle asked. "What do we do now?"

"We don't give up," Lao Shi said automatically, not knowing what to do beyond the searching they had already performed – if they were going to find something, they already would have done so.

"NO; NEVER!" Nicholas and Kyle cried in unison, offense etched into each of their young, passionate faces.

"Not _only_ is that our Mistress and our leader –"

"-but she is our _friend_. You can never, and will never –"

"-understand what kind of a life she saved us from; what kind of a life she saved _you_ from."

"We _love_ her and for you to even _slightly_ suggest that we would _ever_ even –"

"-consider giving up on her is not only insulting –"

"-but heartbreaking and completely fucked up."

"It's also foolish on your part. We would _die_ for her, no hesitation – just like Andrew before us did."

"So don't you _ever_ say those words again," Kyle finished darkly, rage coming from his just as powerfully as it was coming from Nicholas.

"I … I apologize," Lao Shi murmured, properly shamed. "I did not mean offense."

"You're forgiven," Nicholas and Kyle decided in tandem.

"So what now?" Jake broke in, voice thick with despair.

Where was she? She wasn't safe; she wasn't in his arms. His strong, capable Rose had disappeared, stolen by an unknown evil that Jake didn't know how to confront. He didn't know what he was supposed to be fighting, so he didn't know how to battle for her return. He just hoped that Rose was able to free herself from the epic, malicious force that was holding her hostage – and he hoped that the force had underestimated Rose; if it hadn't, he shuddered in fear over how powerful this thing would have to be.

"It's late," Fu mentioned. "Sleep is a necessary part of life, and I think we all need it right now."

"What about the search?" Jake demanded, Nicholas and Kyle his echo.

"Fu Dog is right," Lao Shi said gently. "We are all very tired. It would be best to return tomorrow, in the daylight, to search for evidence we may have missed tonight."

"The search," Jake protested feebly.

"What search? We've found nothing! We've run out of places to look and things to search for!" Fu shouted. "We're not going to find her at this house with nothing to go on!"

Jake stared at his dog. Finally, in a voice that very much resembled the one he'd had in his younger years; back when Gramps was an unflawed hero and the world had not yet destroyed his innocence with the brutality of realty – he said, "But we will find her, won't we, Fu?"

"Yeah, kid," Fu said, trying to sound much more confident than he already was. "We'll find her."

(-.-)

It was time.

Theron grinned diabolically at the thought. He'd had the Huntsgirl back in his possession for roughly a week. She'd gone without food for that space of time, and had only received the minimum amount of water to keep her alive. Now she was severely weakened – couldn't fight back even if we wanted to. Her body was slowly shutting down and giving up on her.

Theron tucked half of a sleeve of crackers into his pocket; a water bottle having taken up residence in his other one. He took the ladder up to the roof of the Huntsgirl's prison. He waltzed to the control panel and commanded the room to open the trapdoor and allow him inside and also not to destroy him; he was not the Huntsgirl attempting to escape but an authorized body. The commands set, Theron stepped down the trapdoor into the inner sanctum of the cage. The Huntsgirl's eyes opened, though slowly; painfully.

She looked at him, and Theron smirked at her. A mask of confusion fell over her exposed features (he having removed her mask when he had first taken her). Of course she was confused; of course she wouldn't know him. Though he'd slipped on his Huntsmaster's mask to steal her off of the street (he'd viewed it as a necessary part of winning the mental power struggle that would most definitely occur between them) now, he was wearing no relics of his former occupation. For the first time, the Huntsgirl would be seeing his face. He watched her bright blue eyes lock onto the dragon birthmark that covered one half of his head – even with her handicapped mental faculties, she was still sharper than most.

"Hello, Huntsgirl," he drawled, watching her expression turn to one of anger and hatred. Theron took amusement from it, knowing how quickly that expression would become one of submission and adoration; just like it should have been all along.

"_Master_," she spat, beginning to struggle – pointlessly – against her bonds.

"Don't be so venomous," Theron ordered, with little expectation that she would actually follow the command.

Her lips drew over her teeth, attempting an aggressive look.

"I'm here to help you, Huntsgirl," Theron assured her. Once, she would not have needed this assurance. Once, she would have believed that everything Theron ever did was to keep her safe, protected, and happy.

"Then let me go." She meant to sound threatening, but it all came out in a frail rush.

Theron's lips quirked up into a cruel smile. "Oh, Huntsgirl," he purred, thoroughly enjoying being able to address her to her face once again. "You aren't going anywhere."

Theron hated the fact that no fear entered her gleaming blue eyes. Despite how they had dimmed with the beginning of malnutrition, despite how she was anchored to _his_ floor, how she was under his control, she still had the look of someone who would never bow. This was, of course, mostly Theron's fault. The Huntsgirl had been born with a sense of regality but Theron had encouraged her conceited feelings, holding her head high and higher because the only person she'd have to answer to was him.

But now, it was backfiring on him. Now, he was one of the people that she looked down on.

He added her arrogance toward him to the list of things he had to fix about her.

Theron squashed all thoughts about his future plans for the young girl and focused on the here and now. He couldn't get to where he aspired if he didn't take this first few steps properly.

He went to the Huntsgirl's side, carefully kneeling next to her head. Even with the limited mobility she had with her hands, Theron wasn't going to make the mistake of underestimating her (it was a sure fire way to lose her and he'd be damned if that was ever going to happen again). Theron pulled the water bottle from his pant pocket. He unscrewed the lid and took a small sip of it – just to prove to her that he had not tampered with the liquid in anyway. Once done with that, he lowered it to her lips.

For a moment, it looked as though she might refuse. But then her mind clearly stopped making the decisions and her body started with making them. Her dry, cracked lips closed around the open mouth of the bottle and she began to consuming the water mouthful by mouthful. Theron had to tilt it away from her and ignore the harsh look on her face when she was unable to follow it – Theron took out the cracker sleeved he'd packed on his person and pulled off the top one. He knew that crackers were easy on the stomach, and were a good introduction back to solid foods.

He gave her one, gently feeding her. He wasn't going to overdo it on the food, for fear she could become strong again, but giving her substance she craved. Feeding her was also a good way to start rebuilding the strong bond they'd once had. She took her time chewing each piece of cracker he tucked between her lips.

And the entire time, her unwavering blue eyes stared him down.

Theron met her gaze, remembering why he'd been so captured by the vivacious newborn. He'd been there for the delivery, her weak mother taking an entire two days to give birth to the twins she'd been implanted with. The first time had been beautiful – large brown eyes hungrily taking in everything around her, but when Theron had inspected the newborn babe, she'd been utterly bare. She'd had no mark.

He'd deposited the first one in the arms of the closest Huntsnurse and waited for the second twin.

The first thing he'd noticed about this twin was that she'd come out legs first; completely backwards, confirming what the ultrasounds had been saying all along – this one was a girl too. Theron wouldn't deny being disappointed in a set of females – one of which was useless due to her mark. A marked male would have been ideal – in fact, males were what the lab had been ordered to create and implant. That he was now dealing with twin girls was Theron's first indication that his scientists had done something very, very wrong.

Then he'd held the second twin. She looked almost exactly like her older by eight minutes sister, with two major differences. This baby had a thick red dragon birthmark wrapped around her wrist – one that matched the one Theron and the rest of the Clan all carried – and her eyes were the clearest blue he'd ever seen on a living thing. As he looked down at the newborn, she did something that he never would have expected from a babe – she laughed out loud; a giant, booming laugh like a condescending adult would make. Her genetic enhancements were already showing through.

Theron looked over at the blonde woman lying exhausted in the narrow little bed.

"May I hold them?" She asked demurely, "Just once?"

She'd been very aware of what would be happening when she'd been brought into the project. Theron had chosen her specifically because she demonstrated an impressive array of qualities that the Huntsclan put on premium and because she was a very poor woman, desperately in need of money. She'd been approached by a group of Clan members, masquerading as a squad of geneticists from a private foundation. They had offered her $4 million to have two twins – created with her and an unknown male's DNA and then implanted. The only condition was that, after the birth, she'd never see her children.

As Theron had anticipated, she'd snatched up the offer as soon as it was made.

In a rare moment of compassion, Theron had let her hold her twins. She'd had one in each arm, cuddling them tightly to her chest. All she'd seen, as their mother, was two innocent newborns but Theron could see the ruthlessness in their genetically engineered eyes – especially in the blue eyed marked one.

"If I could keep you, I'd call you Lily and Rose." The mother said, dubbing the brown eyed one 'Lily' while the blue eyed one was 'Rose'. "But I can't keep you; I promised. I'll love you both always. These nice people are going to take care of you."

She was sobbing uncontrollably when Theron took both girls from her. he left a few whispered words with two of the three nurses the clean up the tired women and then ship her back to Chicago – he didn't want her to stay in New York. Then he had the final nurse follow him into a separate room.

She prepared one bottle at his request. She handed him the bottle and took the brown eyed twin; the Lily twin. Theron began to feed the second twin while the nurse laid the first one in a basket. That twin began to sob and cry but the one in Theron's arms did not utter a sound. In fact, she watched as the nurse finished preparing the needle intended for her sister. She didn't so much as blink as the Huntsnurse pushed the needle into the first twin's veins, the infant's heart stopping but a moment after the lethal injection was administered.

Looking back on it now, Theron firmly believed that, even with her genetic programming, the Huntsgirl would not have been so cutthroat if she had not witnessed such brutality in her first ten minutes of life.

Theron's blinked the infant's face out of his mind's eye and focused on the grown woman right in front of him – that tiny little infant, whom he'd been the first to hold, two decades later.

"Huntsgirl," he hummed, stroking along the edge of her cheek.

She displaced his fingers the best she could. "No," she correctly him coldly, eyes like steel, "_Huntsmistress."_

**This chapter is unbetad. Again, if you have any recommendations for a beta, please let me know. I don't own anything recognizable.**

**~TLL~**


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